Alessandra DiNozzo
by bethchilds34
Summary: Hey guys! This is my newest fic! What would happen if Tony had a sister he never knew about? How would that impact NCIS? read to find out! R&R guys! not the best summary, but it's worth a read! Eventually Tiva! T cause I can.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm back yet again with another brand new fic! Omg we're all excited now, aren't we? Yeah, I thought so! **

**So, this is something that randomly popped into my head over the weekend and I got it written down and I actually liked how it came out. I'm not going to give much away in here about the fic 9for those of you who have read stuff by me before, you know my A/Ns are always full of my crazy ramblings), but I will tell you two things about this: 1. This is going to eventually be a Tiva fic. Yay! 2. It stars a brand new character, never before seen, Alyx DiNozzo. Don't let the name throw you off, Alyx is a girl, Alyx being short for Alessandra (which is Italian's version of Alexandra). That's all I'm going to tell you for now, you'll have to read to find out the rest.**

**And please don't base your opinions solely on this chapter, give the next one a shot too!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it or anything recognizable in this fic. I do, however, own Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo. She's all mine.**

"Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo, get your butt down here right now!" came the voice of my father from downstairs. I had no idea what he wanted now, I'd only just come up here like ten minutes ago.

"Si, papa?" I asked in Italian, walking downstairs to see what he wanted.

"Why was I not informed about what happened at school today?" Anthony DiNozzo Senior asked me.

"What happened at school?" I asked, trying to figure out what he did and didn't already know. I can be sneaky sometimes, okay, all the time, but don't hold that against me.

"You know damn well what happened at school today!" he shot back, even more pissed than before. This wasn't good at all.

"In my defense, it wasn't my fault, papa," I said.

"Getting suspended from school wasn't your fault?" he asked.

"Nope," I told him.

"Then why did it happen?" he asked.

"Look, some guy shoved me in the hall, I was not just about to take it. Nona Isabella would have been ashamed of me, had I done nothing," I explained. Nona Isabella taught me how to fight and stand up for myself. She never would have forgiven me if I hadn't.

"You know what this means, don't you, Alyx?" he asked, calling me by my better-liked name. That showed he was calming down at least a little. He only called me Alessandra when he was really mad and the full-name calling before had definitely scared me.

"That I don't have to go to school for three days?" I said, trying not to sound too happy about it.

"I can't keep you anymore. When your mother died, I found I had a daughter I never knew about, but this was only temporary. You've been here for a month and I've almost lost you several times. This was the final straw…" he said, sounding almost sad about it. I knew he was faking though. He couldn't wait to get rid of me.

"So, what does that mean? Where am I going?" I asked, getting worried. I hadn't meant to get thrown out of my father's house. Sure, I didn't like it here all that much, but I had no other place to go. "Wait, does this mean foster care?"

"There is one other option," he said. "But I don't know if it's even an option right now. I would have to talk it over with him."

"What's the option? Talk it over with who?" I asked, now getting a little desperate. What I knew about foster care wasn't good. Nobody would want me, I was too old.

"I have a son, your half-brother," he said.

"Wait, I have a brother?" I asked.

"Yes, his name is Tony."

**A/N: Now, who saw that coming? Okay, maybe you all did, but that's not the point here. Hhmm, I wonder how Tony's gonna react to the news? Better read chapter 2 to find out! Guys, since I'm asking really nicely here, wanna drop a review? They give me incentive to write more of this at a faster pace while I do nothing in Spanish class! This helps relieve the boredom! So, please review, even if it's just a few words! Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think of chapter one? Worth anything? I hope so! Well, I decided to put chapter two up with chapter one, just because I had the time to type it today. I'm really starting to get into this fic! It keeps me very occupied during Spanish 5****th**** period and then Math 6****th**** period (in case you haven't noticed yet, I have a really bad work ethic which is even worse when I'm actually in school. I can't pay attention cause it gets so boring!). So this just shows what I do like all afternoon. I'd write in Biology too, but I think my teacher would kill me.**

**So here's chapter 2, I really hope you guys like it and please review! Even if it's just a few words, it really makes me happy to open my email and see all of the new reviews and story alerts and author alerts. But reviews make my day! And I'm open to anonymous reviews too, so anyone can submit them! Thanks guys!**

**Disclaimer: **** I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it or anything recognizable in this fic. I do, however, own Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo. She's all mine.**

"If I have a brother then why haven't I met him? Or heard about him?" I asked. What else had he lied to me about? How could I have a brother and not know about him?

"He and I… we're not very close. He lives in Washington DC. He works for the government," dad told me.

"Why haven't I heard about him before today? He's your _son_. My _brother_," I said.

"Look, it's a delicate situation, Alyx," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

But I knew the truth, he couldn't wait to get rid of me. He didn't really care that he had a daughter. And I knew he'd canceled plans these past few weeks because I was here and couldn't stay home alone, legally anyway. Since this was all probationary, he'd probably jumped at the chance to get rid of me and to go on with his life as if I was just a memory.

"So, what's going to happen?" I asked.

"I'm going to call Junior soon. Hopefully he'll be able to come pick you up," he said.

I just shook my head. "You can't wait to get rid of me, can you?" I asked, all the sympathy I had for him vanished and was replaced by anger. "Just can't wait to travel again, huh?"

"Ah, Alyx, of course I wish you could stay, but circumstances change, and now that they have, I have some things I've been putting off that need to be dealt with. I'm going to go call Junior. Why don't you go get your stuff together?" he said, dismissing me as kindly as he could possibly bear.

I just stormed upstairs. In the past few weeks, my father and I had not gotten very close, but I couldn't believe he was acting this way. I really missed my mom and grandma.

Two hundred and thirty three miles away, Tony DiNozzo's desk phone started to ring. It had been a relatively slow day in DC, so Tony grabbed it on the second ring.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo," Tony answered while simultaneously throwing yet another crumpled up piece of paper at his co-worker, Tim McGee. Tim just shook hs head and threw the paper in the trash barrel beside his desk.

"Junior, it's me," came a too-familiar voice from his past.

"Dad, I'm at work. What do you want now?" Tony asked, dropping the emotion from his voice. He noticed that Ziva was watching him from her desk as he talked.

"Look, I just need you to come to New York, okay? I'll explain everything when you get here," Tony Senior said.

"Dad, I can't just drop everything and leave work and drive to New York 'cause you wanna talk to me for the first time in months. Just tell me what you need. Money?" Tony asked, really hoping his father didn't need money.

"I have a girl here. She's fifteen. My daughter, your half sister. She can't stay with me anymore. It's either you or foster care for her now. Which are you gonna pick, Junior?"

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing loudly. He opened his eyes to see Ziva still looking intently at him, Gibbs and McGee mysteriously gone from the Bull Pen at the moment. "I'll be there later tonight, I want a better explanation then," Tony said and hung up before his father could say another word.

Ziva saw how distressed the conversation made Tony and got up from her desk to go talk to him. "Tony? Are you alright?" she asked him, walking around to his side of the desk and sitting on it so they were only inches away from each other. "What did your father want this time?"

He leaned back in the chair, his face unreadable. "Apparently I have a half sister," he told her.

"Oh my God," Ziva said, at a loss for all other words. "And she is with your father?"

"Yeah," Tony said. "He wants me to go to New York and pick her up. He said it's either that or she'll go into foster care. He was never good with kids, I'm proof of that. And now he's screwing with someone else's life!" he said angrily.

"What's her name? How old is she?" Ziva asked him.

"I don't know her name, but she's fifteen. He's messing with the life of a _fifteen year old_. But I have to go to New York and get her. My father wouldn't be able to take care of her anyway. I think foster care would be better than him. But she's my sister, I have to help," he said, raw emotion showing in his face.

"Well, at least it is Friday and we have the weekend off," Ziva said, not knowing what to say that would make him feel better. She knew how he felt, what his childhood had been like, but there were no words to express that.

"Ziva, what the hell am I supposed to do with a fifteen year old kid? I don't know anything about her, yet she's half of my own flesh and blood. In case you didn't know this about me already, I'm not good with kids!" Tony exploded. Then he backed up, realizing what happened. "I'm sorry, Ziva. This is what my father does to me! The man makes me crazy!"

"Do not apologize. It's fine. If you want to leave now, I will cover for you," Ziva offered.

"Zee, can I ask you a favor?" Tony asked her, leaning forward slightly in his chair.

"Sure, Tony," Ziva said.

"Do you think you could come with me? I dint know if I can face my father alone. He just pisses me off so much and…" Tony trailed off as Ziva interrupted him.

"Of course I will, Tony. What are partners for?" she said and checked the time. "It's almost six thirty now. If we leave now, we could be there by ten thirty."

Tony smiled at her, happy that she was going to go with him and that they could spend some time alone.

He didn't know it, but she was thinking the same thing.

**A/N: And here ends chapter two. So, what did you think? I think we all notice the slight Tiva-ness going on here. **

**Please please please review, even if it's just like five words. Leave me something! Anything! If you want something to happen or if you don't want something to happen or if you just want to make my day that much better! Leave me anything! Thanks guys!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Alright, you ask, and you shall receive. Thank you so much for all of the kind reviews! I've gotten so many and all of them made me smile more and more! Please, keep them up. I write when I'm in a good mood, so keep 'em coming and expect more and more outa me.**

**Okay, so here's the third chapter (duh)! Alyx meets Tony and Ziva in this chapter! I wonder how that goes... Read to find out!**

**On another note, I went to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One on Saturday, 11/20! OMG it was amazing! They did an amazing job! I want to go see it again! Anyone wanna come with?**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it or anything recognizable in this fic. I do, however, own Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo. She's all mine. (In case some of you readers who have read my stuff before have noticed, I haven't been feeling very creative with these disclaimers, which is why they're not funny and/or sarcastic and all the same)**

There was a knock at my door and then it opened without my consent. I knew it was my father before I saw him.

"What do you want?" I asked him coldly. I was really mad at him and couldn't wait for Tony to get here so I could leave.

"I know you're mad, but just hear me out, then I'll leave. I called your brother; he'll be here in a few hours," he said.

"How long till he gets here?" I asked.

"He's in DC, so probably about four hours, but he can't wait to meet you," dad said.

"So when are you leaving on your trip?" I asked, not hiding the contempt in my voice. I had a right to be angry, and he knew it, which was why he didn't sound too angry when he answered.

"My plane leaves at eight tomorrow morning. This place is gonna be empty for a while without us," he told me.

"No, this pace is going to be empty without _you_. This was never my real home. Now, please leave so I can finish packing in peace," I said, turning back to my bed, my back to him.

"I'm sorry this didn't work out, Alyx," he said, trying to sound like he actually cared, but we both knew better. He left, closing the door behind him.

A tear slipped out of my eye. I'd come to like New York, despite the cold weather and the lack of friendly people. Rome was my favorite city, though, much more open and there were bright things to look at and people to watch and the most beautiful sights in the world. When mom died and I had no one left there, this was the only place I had left to go, with a father I didn't know about in a city thousands of miles away on a different continent.

Since he had been known to be flighty, Senior had only gotten temporary custody of me, even though he was my father, my own flesh and blood relative. If one of us screwed up too badly, I was facing the foster system in my very near future. We had tried our best, both of us, to stay on the down-low, but apparently my suspension was enough on the radar to get me kicked out.

But now that I knew I wasn't facing the foster system, for now anyway, I was a little happier to be leaving New York. Anyone, anywhere else, had to be a better guardian than my father. Heck, my own brother had gotten away. He must be worth something.

_And_ apparently he was a federal agent in our nation's capital. Yes, _our_ nation. I may have been raised in Italy, but I was born in America. I have joint citizenship, so I have two passports. I'm never hassled at airports on either side. It's pretty cool. 

I looked at the alarm clock beside my bed, it was already eight twenty four. I didn't know when Tony would be here, but I knew it would be a while, seeing as dad had only called him about two hours ago. I hoped we wouldn't have to stay here tonight.

In the past two hours, I'd packed most of my stuff. When I'd come here, I hadn't brought a whole lot of stuff, so it was all easily put back. Until my brother got here, I decided to kill some time. I got my laptop from the table beside my bed and opened it. After it loaded and I typed in my password and it let me in, I checked my email and a few other things before opening up iTunes and settling in to watch some _Saturday Night Live_ episodes I'd bought.

I was about halfway through the third episode when there was a knock on my door, interrupting _Weekend Update with Seth Meyers_.

"Come in," I called, pausing it.

"Your brother's here," dad said, opening the door. "Come on, he's downstairs."

I put the computer back on the table and got up from the bed. Dad left and I followed him, after checking myself over in the mirror over my dresser. I had on black sweatpants, a blue pull-over sweatshirt that said 'Italia' on it in green and red letters, and my favorite rainbow striped socks. My long brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail at the top of my head and my green eyes were clear and bright. I looked fine.

I checked my cell phone as I left my room and headed down the hall for the stairs. I had no new messages and the clock said it was already ten thirty six! I had no idea it was that late already, but it was a Friday night, so it didn't really matter anyway. It was just weird how the time had gone by so fast.

I heard voices downstairs, two male and one female. The loudest one was the one I recognized, my father's, the other male voice must have been Tony, but who was the female? Was my brother married? Dad would have said something about that, wouldn't he? Was it his girlfriend then?

As I came down the stairs, the three of them all watched me. My dad was still dressed in his button-up shirt and nice pants, still wearing his shoes, even though we were in the house. My brother, Tony, was dressed similarly, in a blue button-up shirt and black dress pans. The woman was dressed in a purple sweater and jeans with combat boots on her feet. They both looked very professional.

"Tony, Ziva, this is Alyx," dad said, making introductions.

I really looked at Tony; he did look a lot like me. He was on the taller side, brown hair, green eyes, and an easy smile on his face as he scrutinized me the same way I was doing to him. Other similarities were prominent too, we had the same nose and facial structure, but on him it made him look tougher, harder in some way. While on me, it softened my features, or so I'm frequently told.

"Hi," he said, almost awkwardly.

"Hi," I said back, not really knowing what to say.

There was sort of an uneasy silence for a moment and then dad broke it. "So, are you three going to stay the night in New York or were you planning to drive home tonight?" he asked Tony and Ziva.

The two of them looked at each other, silently deciding an answer. They _looked_ like a couple and I really wanted to know if they were or not. Why else would she drive for four hours from DC with him to come pick up his sister he'd never met before in his life? That was _definitely_ something a girlfriend would do.

"Well, it's getting late, we could get a hotel room for the night," Tony said and Ziva nodded her agreement.

I half expected dad to offer them the spare room upstairs, but he didn't. He probably wanted to make a clean break in the morning. "Okay, that's fine. Look, Junior, it's getting late and I have an early flight in the morning, so if you don't mind, and I don't want to sound rude, can we get this moving along? I really need to get to bed," he said.

Tony's face contorted for a second, then went back. "So, that's it then? No goodbye? Just a see you later?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Junior. But…" he trailed off as Tony interrupted him.

"I'll bet you just jumped at the chance to get back out into the world! Didn't you? And now Alyx has to suffer because you just got _bored_! You're a piece of work, you know that?" Tony almost yelled at dad.

Ziva put a hand on his shoulder and Tony calmed down a little. They had this unspoken language between the two of them, like they could read each other's minds or something.

"We will get Alyx's things and be out of your way then," Ziva told my dad, then she gave my brother a look. I noticed that she didn't have an American accent, but I couldn't place it. She was very pretty, with brown eyes and dark brown hair, left down and it looked naturally curly. She was almost a foot shorter than Tony, but the way she carried herself didn't make her seem as short.

"Where is your room?" Ziva asked, turning to me. She clearly wanted to get down to business and get out of here.

"Upstairs," I told her.

"Why don't we go get your things?" she asked. She obviously wanted to get herself and me away from the oncoming fight between my father and my brother. We walked upstairs in silence, both unsure of what to say. Ziva broke the silence first. "So, I noticed that you do not have an American accent. Are you from Italy?" she asked.

I was shocked, I'd barely spoken downstairs. She was good. "Yeah, I was raised in Italy, but my mom was American, so I have been speaking both English and Italian my whole life. You don't have an American accent either. Where are you from?" I asked.

"I am from Israel, but I am going to become an American soon. My induction ceremony is seven months away," she told me. It was November now, so I figured out quickly in my head that it was being held in the spring.

"That's cool. I have joint American and Italian citizenship. I was born here, but raised there," I said.

"I am getting rid of my Israeli citizenship. I need to be an American to be able to keep my job," she said.

"Where do you work?" I asked her.

"I work with Tony at NCIS. It stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service," she added when she saw a confused look cross my face at the acronym.

"What's NCIS? I've never heard of it," I said. It's not like dad had mentioned any of it.

"It's the Navy and Marine equivalent of the FBI," she explained.

"Oh, that's cool. So what do you and Tony do there?" I asked, packing the last few things that I'd need into a small over-night bag.

"Your brother and I are both field agents. We investigate murders," she said.

"That's so cool! Not the dead people part, but it's cool that you guys do that! It's like, you always hear about people who do that sort of thing, but you never know any of them!" I said.

She laughed. "You sound like Abby. She's the forensic scientist at NCIS. You would like her," she said.

That's when we heard my dad and brother start yelling. Ziva closed my bedroom door and it muffled the sounds. Neither of us really wanted to hear it.

"So, tell me about yourself. What was your life like in Italy? I have been there a few times and it is beautiful. I cannot imagine growing up there," Ziva said, and it wasn't just a conversation starter. She sounded like she really wanted to know. I didn't usually open up to people I had just met ten minutes before, but I didn't really have a problem talking to her.

"It was a childhood, really. Pretty much like everyone else's. I went to public school and had a usual number of friends. Rebelled against my mom a few times, but nothing major. The usual. Only the people there did not always speak English and they were much nicer than people in America," I said, explaining as best I could.

"I bet you miss your friends. I know I certainly miss mine, and I have not been back to stay in Israel in over a year," she said.

"Yeah, I do miss them, a lot. But we talk all the time, which helps a bit," I said.

"Maybe you could go back and visit this summer, if things work out well," Ziva said, adding the last part quickly. We still had to test out living with my brother. If things didn't go well in DC, I was facing the system, just like I had been before my father mentioned that I had a brother. Besides Tony, I didn't think I had any other living blood relatives.

"I would like that," I said. Then, for the third time that night, there was a knock on my bedroom door.

"Come in," I called. Tony opened the door and seemed unsure of what to do. He wasn't sure whether to go in or not. I decided to make it easier on him. "Come on in, I don't bite."

"Well, I don't know how much of that the two of you heard, but I'm sorry for what you did. How about we pack up the car and go for some eleven o'clock waffles? There has to be some place open that has waffles and we can get to know each other," Tony suggested.

I hadn't realized until then that I was really hungry. I'd skipped dinner after my fight with my father. "Sounds good to me," I said.

"Let's go then!" Tony said, grabbing my biggest duffle bag and heading for the door.

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think? Alyx and Ziva seem to get along very well. I wonder how well Alyx and Tony will get along? Read more to find out! Please review, people! They keep me writing. **

**How about this, if I get 10 in the next day, I'll have a new chapter up by Wednesday night. Deal? REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! (Subtly is not a virtue of mine. Neither is patience.)Thanks guys! You're the best!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys! Okay, you people are the best! I asked for 10 reviews and I got almost 20! Wow! You really surprised me! I was so happy yesterday guys, you have absolutely no idea! So that's why I'm updating today! I'm also hoping to update again on Wednesday, but I need reviews to do that! **

**So, in the last chapter, we saw how Alyx and Ziva interact. In this chapter, we see Tony and Alyx! Yay! Okay , so, here we go guys! I want 15 reviews before I update again! I know, I upped the number, but I believe in you people! Thanks guys! Keep it up!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it or anything recognizable in this fic. I do, however, own Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo. She's all mine.**

Surprisingly, Bickford's wasn't completely empty at eleven thirty on a Friday night. There were some old men in the far corner and a couple in their twenties with cups of coffee in front of them sitting by the front windows. The three of us took seats at a semi circle booth in the corner, Tony and I on either end, Ziva in the middle. Right now, she was our only common ground.

A waitress came over and handed us all menus and then took our drink orders. I went for a sugar rush and got a Sprite and Tony and Ziva both got coffee. The waitress walked away after that. We all studied our menus in silence, waiting for her to come back. Ever since Tony mentioned we were going out for pancakes, I'd been craving them. I hadn't had them in a while, so they sounded amazing right now. I decided on just plain with strawberries and apples.

"Hey, Alyx, get anything you want, you too, Ziva. This one's on me," Tony said. I nodded, closing my menu. "You picked already? That was fast."

"Yeah, well, you said we were going out for pancakes, and they sounded really good. I'm getting plain pancakes with strawberries and apples," I told him.

Ziva closed her menu too. "I am getting an omelet," she said.

"That leaves me then… Um, okay, I think I'll just go for chocolate chip pancakes, always a crowd pleaser," Tony said, smiling and closing his menu.

The waitress came over with our drinks and we put in our orders and then she left again. She didn't seem very enthusiastic about working the graveyard shift, I noticed.

"So, Alyx, I have to ask a very important question," Tony said.

"Um, what?" I asked, getting a little nervous. Ziva just shook her head and smiled, as if she knew what was coming.

"Do you like movies?" he asked.

I started laughing. I thought it was going to be a serious question, the way he'd asked it. "They are alright. I like them, but they are not my favorite thing. I'm more into music. Why?" I asked.

"Your brother is the biggest movie freak that has ever walked the planet," Ziva said, laughing.

"Hey! Not fair! I am not! I just like them," Tony defended himself, seeming a little put-off at my answer.

"I watch them, sure, but not more than anyone else," I said.

"What's your favorite?" he asked, seeming like he was ready to drill me on this.

"American or Italian?" I asked, knowing movies in both genres.

"American, my Italian movie skills need some work," he said.

"Well, there are a few. This really good movie came out the year I was born and I have seen it many times. Do you know Speed?" I asked him.

"Do I know it? Kid, I've lived it!" he said, a little too enthusiastically. Ziva hit him on the arm to make him be quiet. "Ow!" he said before shutting up for a few seconds.

"What do you mean, you've lived it?" I asked. "Are you saying something like that happened to you? Was it when you were working a case?"

"Kind of. We used the same methods to get… a friend of ours… out of trouble," he said, clearly omitting details.

"I knew you had stolen that from that movie! You refused to admit it that night!" Ziva exclaimed.

"I didn't _refuse_ to admit it. If Probalicious hadn't been there, I would have said that myself. But he already thinks I can't think for myself, that every idea I have comes from a movie. I just didn't want to prove him right, _the one time_. You have to understand, Zee-vah," he explained, giving her puppy dog eyes and calling her by a nickname he'd probably given her himself.

But I was confused. "Who's Probalicious?" I asked.

"His name is Tim McGee, but Tony here insists on calling him, and now myself, 'Probie' or 'Mc'-something. It is quite annoying," she said.

"But it's funny! I make some of those up on the spot! I could be a stand-up comedian," he said.

"I think Gibbs would disagree," Ziva said.

"Gibbs?" I asked. There was yet another person I didn't know.

"Our boss, the infamous Leroy Jethro Gibbs," Tony told me.

Before anyone could say anything else, the waitress came back with our food. We all dug in right away, it all smelled so good.

"Hey, Alyx, you wanna go half-sies on pancakes?" Tony asked me.

I thought about it for a second, his _did_ look really good and chocolate was good at any point in time. "Yeah," I said, stabbing the pancake I hadn't started in on with my fork and sliding my plate closer to his across the table while he did the same. I also put some fruit on top of it, so he could get the full effect of the awesomeness that was Bickford's fruit pancakes.

Ziva shook her head, smirking at the ordeal. "What?" I asked.

"You DiNozzos, you are all the same. Movies and food," she laughed.

"What? Hers looked good. And I _am_ her _brother_, which means I'm allowed to share food. And neither of us is sick. You're not sick, are you?" he asked.

"Nope. One hundred percent healthy," I said.

"There ya go, Zee-vah. It's fine," he said, making his point by taking a bite of the pancake I'd given him. The pancakes were almost as big as the plates, so I doubted that I'd finish mine, but they were so good. "Do you want a bite?" he asked, his mouth still full of pancakes, pushing his plate a little towards her, probably knowing her answer.

"Are you sure you want to share, Tony?" she asked.

"Of course, Sweet cheeks," he said. Yet another nickname.

"Okay, guys, I have to ask. Are you two dating?" I asked. I figured it was easier to just get it out rather than beat around the hedge, or is it bush? American idioms mess me up. They don't make any sense.

In reaction to my question, Tony chocked on the bite of pancake in his mouth and Ziva's fork stopped halfway from her plate to her mouth. They looked at each other then at me.

"Um, no, why do you ask?" Ziva asked, as she'd recovered first. Tony was coughing a little next to her and she hit him on the back, with a little more force than was necessary.

"Well, the nicknames, the sharing food, the way you two act around each other, how you came with him to come get me. It just seemed like you were," I said. I'm not one to shy away from a question or 'um' and 'ah' my way through it. I'm very direct.

"Tony has had that _insufferable_ nickname for me for almost four years now. And we are partners at work; we know each other almost as well as we know ourselves. Well, I know him, anyway. He does not know me quite as well," she said, sending Tony a sly smile.

"And she only came with me because I asked. Dad and I… we haven't been known to get along very well, as you may have noticed," Tony added, now having chewed and swallowed the pancake that had been stuck in his throat.

"Yeah, I noticed," I said. "You okay, Tony?"

"Oh, yeah, just peachy. I do love chocking on pancakes," he said, smiling.

"Sorry," I said. "I did not mean to surprise you."

"Don't apologize. It's a sign of weakness," he said, like it was an automatic response.

"Huh?" I asked, confused.

"Our boss, he has Rules of Life, I guess you could call them. _That_ is one of them," Ziva explained.

"How many does he have?" I asked.

"Only about fifty or sixty more," Tony said. "Don't worry, you'll learn them all."

**A/N: Okay, guys, what did you think? I know, it was early, but I was so happy with all the reviews you all sent me, I decided to do something nice in return. So, what did you think of Tony's and Alyx's relationship so far? Please tell me something! Anything!**

**Again, guys, 15 reviews before the next update! Feel free to review more than once if you really want to!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Guys, you have shocked me. I asked for 15, and I got somewhere in the 20s I think. You all deserve a round of applause, I just can't give it to you because it's kind of impossible. But just imagine me giving you a round of applause! I've been really happy with all of the feedback and I've incorporated some of it into these past two chapters, along with my own ideas that I already had.**

**So far, I think this is my favorite chapter, on a number of levels, but I want to know what you guys think. Please review! I want 15 before I update again. Considering the number of reviews, story alerts, favorites, and author alerts I've gotten so far, I don't think that's an unreasonable request. So, please guys, in the spirit of Thanksgiving (here in America, anyway), give a little by reviewing! Please and Thank you!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it or anything recognizable in this fic. I do, however, own Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo. She's all mine.**

We finished our food and left around twelve thirty. By then, we were all pretty tired. We only drove a few miles before we found a decent-looking motel and booked two rooms. When he'd paid and been handed two keys, Tony handed one of them to me.

"Here, your room's right next to ours. I really hope you brought ear plugs," Tony said, smiling at me.

"Thanks. Why would I need ear plugs?" I asked. I was used to the city noises by now and this place was deathly quiet.

"Even though you won't be in the same room as her, Ziva snores _really_ loudly. You'll hear her," Tony assured me.

"Hey! You snore too!" Ziva protested.

"Yeah, Sweet cheeks, but not _nearly_ as bad as you. We really should get that checked out," he said jokingly. Ziva hit him on the arm.

"Well, you two have fun debating that. I'm going to bed. Goodnight," I said.

"Night, Alyx," Tony said.

"Goodnight," Ziva said.

We walked down the path from the front office to the rooms and I found 104 without trouble. The two of them were in 105, right next door. They made sure I got into my room alright before going into theirs.

The room was pretty plain, a small kitchen with a sink, counter, and two cabinets on one wall. There was a bathroom off on one side and a bed around the corner from the door and front closet. I walked in, kicked off my sneakers at the foot of the bed, and collapsed onto it, just managing to pull the blankets out from under me. I fell asleep almost instantly.

I woke up the next morning to bright sunlight coming in the windows. I groaned and rolled over, trying to figure out where I was. I looked around and recognized the room around me as being the motel room I'd checked into in the very early hours of this morning. I remembered Tony and Ziva picking me up and Tony and dad fighting and then the eleven o'clock pancakes.

I put my hand in my pocket to check the time on my phone, but it wasn't there. I searched the blankets for a few seconds before finding it. I slid it open and looked at the time; it was 9:30 am. I'd slept for probably eight and a half hours and felt like I could sleep for eight and a half more. But I got up anyway.

I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My ponytail had gotten messy and undone while I was asleep, so I took it out and fixed it as best I could without a brush.

I left the bathroom, put my shoes on, and went next door. I could hear something inside, multiple voices, so I figured the TV was on. I knocked on the door, feeling a little awkward. A few seconds later, I heard soft footsteps and then the door opened, revealing Ziva.

"Alyx, good morning. Come in," she said, opening the door wider.

"Morning," I said, still a little groggy, but the few seconds I'd spent outside in the cold morning air had woken me up a little.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked, sitting down on the bed she'd just vacated while I sat down on a chair across from the bed and next to the TV.

"Fine. Hey, where's Tony?" I asked. The bathroom door was open and the light was off, so I figured he wasn't in there and there was no place to hide in this square room.

"He went out to get coffee. We did not know whether or not you drink coffee, so he is bringing you back a hot chocolate and muffins for the three of us," she said. "I can call him if you want something different."

"No, that's fine," I said. And then there was a knock on the door for the second time in a few minutes. Ziva got up to get it.

"Coffee, my lady?" Tony asked when she opened the door, revealing him standing there with a drink tray with three cups and a bag.

"Thank you, Tony," Ziva said, smiling and taking a cup from the tray and taking a sip.

"Hey, Alyx. Hot chocolate?" Tony asked when he noticed me, holding the tray out to me.

"Thanks," I said, taking it and taking a sip. "Oh, my God, this stuff is amazing!" I said.

"Yeah, it has caramel in it. It sounded good, but it just occurred to me that you could be allergic to it and I could have killed you," Tony said. "Please tell me you're not allergic to it," he practically begged.

"No, I'm not. I am allergic to nuts though," I said.

"And what do you do if you have an allergic reaction to something?" he asked me then looked at Ziva. "Didn't I tell you I'm not cut out for this? What if I'd given her your coffee by mistake! The pecan in it could kill her!" Tony looked scared.

"I have an epi-pen in my bag; you would have had to go out to the car to get it. I would have been fine," I told him.

"Are you allergic to anything else? I'm trying to make sure you get to stay with me and being brought to the hospital on the first day isn't exactly a selling point, you know," Tony said.

"I know. Thanks. I do not even know if dad knew I was allergic to nuts," I said. "Nothing else, unless you count mangos. It's weird, but apparently, they' are related to nuts somehow. All I know is that I cannot have them. And being around them does not bother me, so you can keep them at your house. I have heard of some people who cannot even be around things they are allergic to."

"Okay, so you have an epi-pen?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's in the car right now. I usually keep it close, but I did not bring my bag in with me," I said.

"Do you have one or two?" he asked.

"One, but I need a new one every year. When I got the one I have now, it was December, so when you get my medical records, you can put in a request to get two when I get my new one," I told him.

"How did you know I'd want one?" he asked.

"Because she is like you, Tony. She can read people," Ziva said. "It must be the genes."

"Must be," I agreed. "So, what are we doing today?"

"Well, it's Saturday, so we can do whatever you want," Tony said.

"Oh no, do not put this on me. _You_ decide," I said.

"How about we go back to DC? We have some stuff to figure out. Dad gave me some papers and a phone number for your temporary social worker. If this works out, you and me, I mean, I have to go to court and sign some papers saying I'm your legal guardian. They also need your consent," Tony explained.

"That's a lot of hoops to jump through, considering you are my brother," I pointed out.

"Yeah, well, since I _don't_ have kids or a wife or a nice, clean house in the suburbs and I _do_ have a high-risk job with the government , they need to check me out before giving me a teenager. It's kind of the law," Tony said.

"How high risk is your job?" I asked.

"Well, I'm a federal agent. Sure, I work for an agency that none of the good guys have heard of, but we've arrested a lot of bad guys," Tony said, looking to Ziva for help.

"Can you just please tell me the truth? I am not a little kid anymore," I said.

"We've been in a few gun fights and I saw my partner shot down in front of me, had her blood on my face and clothes. But I do what I do for good, to protect good people," Tony told me bluntly.

Ziva and I looked at him. I couldn't believe that he'd seen his partner killed, that must have been so hard. "I'm so sorry, Tony," I said, at a loss for all other words.

"It was a long time ago. And we got the guy," he said. Then he seemed to remember something and looked at Ziva. "I'm sorry, Zee," he told her. Something unspoken passed between them before Ziva walked away and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

"What happened?" I asked Tony. "Is she okay?"

"It was her brother, the person who killed my partner. Gibbs got him," Tony told me quietly.

"Oh, my God," I said. "That's horrible."

"Yeah, I didn't even know it was her brother at first, but when I found out, I felt so bad."

"Why did you not know? Did you not know his name?" I asked.

"No, we knew his name. He and Ziva didn't have the same last name," he told me. "Ziva isn't always open with personal stuff, so I never even guessed. She just said she worked with him, nothing else. None of us had any idea who he was."

Then, his stomach growled and we both laughed. "Okay, well, I think it's time for muffins. I got chocolate chip, blueberry, and coffee cake," he said.

"What kind do you want?" I asked him.

"I'll eat any of them, but I know that Ziva will probably want the blueberry," he said.

"Okay, I'll go for chocolate chip then," I said.

"Cool. I saw that we had paper plates in the cabinet last night, but we'll have to eat on the chairs or something, cause there's no table," he said, getting up to get the plates.

He didn't go right for the cabinet, though. He walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it lightly. "Ziva, can I come in?" he asked softly through the door. Ziva opened it from the inside and he went in, closing it behind him. I watched the news while waiting for them to come out.

Inside the Bathroom

"Ziva, I'm sorry," Tony said as he walked in. "I didn't know the conversation would go where it went. I never meant to bring any of it up, I swear. It was almost as hard for me to talk about it."

"I know, Tony. I did not mean to overreact," she said, looking up at him from where she sat on the edge of the bathtub rim.

Tony sat down beside her and put his arm over her shoulders. "That was far from overreacting. Overreacting would be crying, or punching the wall, or hitting me, or a number of other things. Sadness isn't weakness, Ziva."

She leaned into him, closing her eyes. "Things are so different now than they were back then, yet I could not tell you what has changed so drastically," she said.

"You have. You're a completely different person than you were four years ago when we met," Tony said, smiling at the memory of the day they'd first met in the Bull Pen after Kate's death.

"So are you," Ziva pointed out.

"A lot's changed in four years. But hey, we have a fifteen year old waiting for us out there. It's best not to keep hungry people waiting," Tony said, standing up and offering her his hand.

She took it and he pulled her up. Before opening the door, she turned back to him and said, "You could have just told me that you were hungry, Tony. This conversation could have waited."

"Well, Zee-vah, some things are more important than food," Tony told her, giving her his classic smile.

**A/N: Okay guys, what did you think? I'm really enjoying writing this and you guys are clearly liking it as well, or I wouldn't have gotten all the reviews I did! It literally made these past few days a lot better! I've been smiling nonstop. **

**Keep up the reviews, guys. I want 15 again before I update with chapter 6. It will probably be sometime this weekend, if not sooner. I hope everyone here in America has a great Thanksgiving!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm soooo sorry I haven't updated before now, I've been so busy with school and my hectic life! Please forgive me! I feel really bad about this, but hey, better late than never. I know a lot of people want me to do longer chapters, and you have no idea how much I want these to be longer too, but this is stuff that I write in school, in a notebook and on school computers during my one free period a day. I like these chapters to be like they are because you guys keep coming back for more. I'm gonna try to make these longer, but no guarantees. I'm sorry if this doesn't help at all, but I'm going to try. Honestly! Please review, guys! I'd really appreciate it! I want 15 before the next chapter goes up. I don't think that's an unreasonable request, with all the reviews I've gotten on past chapters.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it or anything recognizable in this fic. I do, however, own Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo. She's all mine.**

We left New York around ten thirty and planned on stopping around one wherever we could find food. We planned a late lunch because we'd eaten breakfast a little later than we were all used to.

When we were in the car and had been driving for a few minutes, Tony started talking. "So, the next thing we have to think about is school," he said, looking at both Ziva and me.

"I think before we make a decision on that, we should get back to DC and talk to Gibbs about everything. You are going to be a little busy while trying to get everything settled down in the next few weeks," Ziva said, always the logical one.

"What, you're not gonna help me? You come all this way just to abandon me when we're back in DC?" Tony asked, sounding a little hurt. I had to pity my brother, if I were him, I wouldn't want to be stuck with his fifteen year old sister either.

I broke into their conversation. "Okay, you two sound like you have some stuff to work out alone, so I'm going to turn my iPod up so loud that I cannot hear you," I said, starting to take my iPod out of my pocket and getting ready to put on my playlist of the loudest songs I had.

"It's okay, you can listen to this, Alyx, it concerns you," Tony said, looking at me briefly in the rear-view mirror before focusing on the road again. "Okay, so the first obvious question is: do you want to live with me?"

"Yes," I said, partially seeing where he was going with this.

"Okay, there you go, Zee-vah. Now that we've determined that she's staying with me at least for a little while, let's talk about school, just for the sake of talking about it. There are some good schools around where I live, so you have some decisions. You're a sophomore, right?" he asked.

"No, junior. I started school a year early in Italy for some reason, so I'm a year younger than everyone else. I'll graduate when I'm seventeen," I told him.

"When's your birthday?" he asked.

"December eighth," I said.

"Less than a month away?"

"Yeah, I'll be sixteen," I said, smiling.

"Do you know how to drive?" he asked me.

"Yeah, and I took driver's education over the summer. I would have been able to go for my permit next month," I told him.

"I'll take you," he said immediately.

I smiled at him. "Really?" I asked. I didn't know if he'd take me, which was why I hadn't asked.

"Sure. You'll have to make sure you know the material here, though. I don't know how different the rules are there. But it'll be easier for you to get around here if you can drive," Tony said.

"Tony, maybe that is not such a good idea. People in Italy drive like I do," Ziva said teasingly. "You will not want her driving your car once you have seen her drive."

"Hey! Not fair! I do not drive crazy!" I exclaimed jokingly, but serious too.

"I'll be the judge of that. When you pass your test, I'll teach you how to drive like an American. Ziva's past being changed, but if you do drive like her now, you won't for long," Tony said. "Okay, so back to what we were talking about before. School. Did you go to public school in Italy?" he asked.

"All my life," I said.

"Okay, good, because you will be here, too. Um, now that college seems to be coming up much faster for you, have you thought about that at all? I know, it's a lot to think about, but I'm just trying to get used to everything," he said, rambling a little.

"Well, I was thinking about La Università di Roma, but now I'm thinking about staying in the states," I said. "Where did you go?" I asked him.

"Ohio State," he said proudly.

"Sometimes he thinks he is still there," Ziva told me, laughing at him.

"Hey! I do not!" he protested.

"Okay, not so much anymore, but when I first met you, you were still an immature frat boy," Ziva said.

I laughed at the two of them. I couldn't believe that that two of them were just friends. They made fun of each other nonstop like they were a couple.

We ended up getting fast food for lunch. Europe has the same places, but their food was better. I didn't mind, though, because by the time we got there, I was hungry. We ate inside because we were all sick of the car. We stayed there an extra ten minutes longer than was necessary, but Tony and Ziva were both really sick of the car because they'd been in it for almost seven out of the past eighteen hours and I was never a big fan of long car rides.

When we got back on the highway, we made good time getting back to Washington DC. We had to stop at NCIS before going to Tony's because he had some paper work to finish this weekend.

He told me that they weren't doing anything this weekend, so for the rest of the day and tomorrow we were just going to hang out. But he got a confused look on his face when we pulled into the parking lot and he seemed to recognize some cars there. He turned toward Ziva and asked, "Why would Abby be here now? I thought she was bowling today."

"I do not know, Tony. But Gibbs is here, too," she said, her face just as confused as his.

Just then, Tony's cell phone rang. "It's Gibbs," he said then answered it. "DiNozzo," he said then paused, listening. "Yeah, Boss, I'm actually out front. No need to call Ziva, she's with me. We'll be in in a minute," he told Gibbs then hung up.

He turned and looked at me guiltily. "Alyx, I'm sorry. We weren't supposed to be on this weekend. We got a case," he told me.

"It's fine, really. So what am I going to do while you are out working?" I asked.

Ziva looked at Tony. "She can stay with Abby until we get back," she said.

Tony sighed, as if resigning. "That's pretty much our only option. She wouldn't mind," he said more to himself than us. "Okay, grab some stuff to keep you occupied, cause we're gonna be here for a while," he told me.

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think? Live up to your standards after me having dropped off the face of the Earth for a little while? I hope so! Remember, 15 reviews before u put up chapter 7! Thanks guys! You're all totally awesome!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey, guys! So, here I am, back with another chapter! This one's a bit longer than previous ones, since everyone's been asking and I had the time. So I really hope you all like it! I'm gonna make this as short as I can, since nobody even reads my author's notes, anyway. So, this literally starts right where the last chapter stops, no time lapse. I finished writing chapter 6 in school and then I turned the page and got started on this one, which is why. I've been getting really into this fic, which explains the lack of updates for my other fics. Please review for this, people! I want 15 reviews before I put up chapter 8! I only just reached 15 on chapter 6 which is why I'm updating now.**

**In other news, I'm on vacation right now! It's quarter to 11 right now and I'm just chillin' and wondering how it got so late. I'm in North Conway, New Hampshire and am dreading going home. But I'm also looking forward to it because it's at least a little warmer there. It's been so cold up here! Don't get me wrong, I snowboard, I don't mind the cold. I do, however, mind when it's 11 degrees and snowing while I'm out on the mountain. I like it to be clear and cold, not white and bone-chilling freezing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it or anything recognizable in this fic. I do, however, own Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo. She's all mine.**

I grabbed my backpack and climbed out of the backseat. I was sitting on the passenger side, so Ziva held the seat for me as I got out of the two-door Mustang. I slung my bag over my shoulder and we all headed into the building without talking. I knew Tony was feeling guilty that he'd told me we'd have the weekend to get settled in and then the second we got back to DC he had to work, but I didn't mind much. I got to see his workplace and meet his and Ziva's friends that they'd talked about.

When we got into the building, Tony told Ziva to go up without us and tell Gibbs that he'd be up in a few minutes, but not to tell him anything. Tony and I stopped at the desk on the right wall as Ziva went around a corner.

"Hey, DiNozzo!" the security guard said when Tony approached. The guard smiled at him. "What's up?"

"I need a visitor's pass for her," Tony told the guard, gesturing to me. "She's gonna be coming here a lot."

"Okay, sure. We just need some information," he said and looked at me while simultaneously opening a new page on his computer. "Name?" he asked. "First, middle, and last, please."

"Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo. Do you need help with the spelling?" I asked.

"Nope, I got it. Okay, DOB?"

"DOB?" I asked, confused by the acronym.

"Date of Birth," Tony supplied.

"Oh, of course. December 8, 1993," I said.

"Almost sixteen, huh? Good age," he said. "Alright, can you stand behind that piece of tape over there, please? We just need a face-shot to keep on file and for your pass."

I handed Tony my bag and stood behind the line, fixing my hair a little. I'd put it up in a pony tail again this morning after brushing it. I stood behind the line and smiled as he took my picture with a webcam. When he was done, Tony and I waited for a few minutes until my badge was printed and the guard handed it to me.

"So are you DiNozzo's sister? You two look an awful lot alike," the guard said.

"Yeah, she is," Tony said, putting an arm around my shoulders and pulling me a little closer to him and smiling.

"Okay, well, just remember every time you come into the building, just come up to this desk and ask for your pass. And you have to hand it back every time you leave. It'll be on the desk so whatever guard is on duty won't have to dig for it or ask weird questions," he told me.

"Okay, thanks," I said.

"Anytime, Alessandra," he told me, using the name that I prefer.

"Alyx," I told him.

"Josh," he said, smiling.

"See you later," Tony said, giving him a wave and starting to walk around a corner and towards a bank of elevators. He hit a button and the doors opened immediately and some people got out. Some of them acknowledged Tony, but it was brief and none of them stopped to talk. We got into the empty elevator and Tony hit a floor button and after a second, the elevator started to move.

The door opened up to a huge room full of desks that were in a few clusters. Tony led me to one cluster that was in front of a huge window and I saw the back of Ziva's head as we got closer. There was also an older man with gray hair and a blazer at the desk next to Ziva.

Tony didn't really acknowledge Ziva as we walked toward the man at the next desk. I assumed this man was Gibbs, but I wasn't sure.

As Tony and I approached, the man looked from Tony to me and back to Tony. "Uh, DiNozzo, why is there a kid with you?" he finally asked.

"Long story short, boss, this is my little sister, Alyx," he said.

"Didn't think you had a sister," the man said.

"I didn't either," Tony told him.

The man got up and came around to the front of his desk and stood in front of us. I wasn't intimidated by him, but Tony seemed to be, and I could see why. The man looked from Tony back to me again. "I'm Gibbs. Tony's boss," he said, holding his hand out for me to shake.

I shook his hand. "Alyx DiNozzo," I said, even though Tony had already introduced me.

"DiNozzo, bring her down to Abby. McGee should be here by the time you get back. Hurry up," Gibbs said and smacked the back of Tony's head. I laughed and I saw Ziva out of the corner of my eye cover the smirk on her face.

"Right, okay, come on," Tony said, leading me to a different set of elevators. He hit a button and waited a few seconds. "I'm sorry about Gibbs, he always comes off that way. But I think he likes you. He likes kids and usually seems to warm up to women faster than men, it's just something I've noticed," he rambled as we got onto the elevator and he hit another button.

"Be prepared for when this door opens," he warned me. I didn't have time to ask why before the elevator dinged and the door opened and loud music blasted out at us. Tony didn't even blink, so I expected he was used to it. He motioned for me to get out and walk toward the source of the sound, through an open doorway where the door was labeled _Forensic Lab. _I looked at him for confirmation and he nodded, walking in in front of me.

When we walked in, I didn't know where to look first. The place was so colorful, weird pictures on the walls, machines everywhere, a million other things. Tony was headed straight for the next room that was behind a glass door that opened when he got close to it. Then the loud music finally quieted into background noise.

"Tony! What can I do for you today?" a Goth asked, getting up from a desk and throwing her arms around Tony's neck, smiling.

"Hey, Abbs, I need a favor," Tony told her, hugging her back.

"Okay. What?" she asked him.

"Well, I found out very recently that I have a sister and she's here with me now, probably freaked out by your lab and we have a case so I was wondering if you could watch her while we're out?" Tony said, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

That's when she saw me. Her face lit up in a huge smile and she rushed over and threw her arms around my neck. I was stunned, to say the least. I had no idea why this person was or why she was hugging me and I'm not the biggest hugger to begin with.

"Oh my God! You look just like Tony! I'm sorry you probably think I'm crazy now! I'm Abby, the forensic scientist. Wow you look a lot like Tony," she said, faster than I thought it was possible to speak.

"Yeah, I'm Alyx," I said, still slightly stunned.

"Sorry, I come off a bit strong, don't I?" she asked.

"Just a little, Abby. So, you'll keep an eye on her?" Tony asked her.

"Yeah, of course. Does Gibbs know?" Abby asked him.

"What? You think I could hide something like this from Gibbs? He called us in cause we have a case and McGee and Ziva are upstairs and we have to go. I'll see you both later, okay?" he said.

"Okay, Tony. We'll have fun without you," Abby said to him.

"I want her back the way she is now, no piercings or tattoos, got it?" he asked Abby.

Abby saluted him. "Yes, sir," she said mockingly.

"Okay. Alyx, I'll come down when we get back," he told me.

"Okay," I said. I knew Abby had to be a good person or Tony never would have left me here.

"I'm really sorry," he said as he practically ran back out to the elevator and jabbed at the button a few times, willing it to come faster.

Abby turned to me when he left. "So, you're Tony's sister, huh? That's so cool!" she said. "You really do look just like him."

"Yeah," I said, not knowing what else to say.

"I'm sorry. I come off a bit strong with new people, but that's just the way I am," she said.

"It's fine. One of my best friends is a lot like you. Her name's Mia," I said.

"So, not meaning to sound rude or anything, but where are you from? You talk almost like an American, but the accent's wrong," she said.

"I grew up in Italy, but my mom was an American. I have been speaking English and Italian my whole life, so I know them both fluently, also I am fluent in Spanish and I know a lot of French," I told her.

"Wow. I don't know too many people with language skills like that. The only other one I can think of is Ziva, she speaks like ten languages," Abby said.

"I actually get them mixed up sometimes when I'm mad. I'll go off in Italian and then switch from that to anything that pops into my head in any language. People don't know what I'm yelling about sometimes," I said, laughing.

"So, what are we gonna do while they're out today? They should only be gone for a couple of hours," Abby asked me.

"Well, considering this is my first time hanging around a federal agency with a forensic scientist, I really don't know," I said, smiling.

"I see you and your bother have the same sense of humor," Abby said. "So what do you think of him so far? Tony really is a good guy once you get to know him."

"He's been really great to me. Hey, can I ask you something about him?" I asked her.

"I'll try my best to answer," she said.

"What's with him and Ziva? Are they seriously just friends?" I asked, feeling a little awkward asking this person I'd just met, but she knew Tony and Ziva.

Her face lit up. "Those two… wait, how do you know Ziva?" she asked.

"When Tony came to New York to pick me up last night, Ziva was with him," I told her.

"So _that's_ where they disappeared to yesterday! I went to go see Tim and they weren't there. He didn't know where they were either," she said.

"Who's Tim?" I asked.

"Tim McGee, he works with Tony, Ziva, and Gibbs," Abby explained.

"Oh, McGee. That's what Tony and Ziva called him, not Tim," I said.

"Nobody except me really calls him Tim or Timmy. They all call him McGee and Tony calls him 'Probie' or one of the million and a half 'Mc-nicknames' he's come up with," Abby said.

I wasn't even going to ask what a 'Mc-nickname' was. "So, anyway, what's with the two of them?" I asked, getting back to my original question.

"Tony and Ziva are Tony and Ziva. They're totally in love, but both refuse to admit it. They've been dancing around each other since Ziva got here like four years ago," she explained to me.

"There's like this, how do you say it, friction, between them," I said.

"Tension. Oh yeah there is. Sometimes it's weird to be in the same room as them when they're just staring at each other, daring the other one to move, totally having… Wait, there are things you can and cannot say in front of teenagers and that is _definitely_ one of the things you cannot say. But yeah, those two just need to get it into their heads already," Abby said.

"I noticed the same thing. As you said, they dance around each other. And they tease each other to no end," I told her.

"That's what they do. But Tony teases everyone. He used to tease Kate especially. She'd throw it right back in his face too, like Ziva does," she said.

"Who's Kate? Another team member?" I asked. I'd only seen four desks in their little part of the room.

"Kate used to work with them. She died about four years ago, which is why Ziva came to work here. She and I were really close. Tony used to tease her because she was very Catholic and so he'd ease her with sexual jokes. Normally she'd just threaten to kill him," Abby said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I did not mean to bring it up," I said.

"No, no, it's okay. We've gotten to the point where I can talk about it without crying. Kate and I were close from her first day here, being the only two females that constantly interacted all the time, so we became friends. I'd known her for two years before she died, killed by a Hamas terrorist. She used to be Tony's partner," Abby said, more quietly than I'd heard her speak thus far.

"Ziva's brother," I said, just as quietly.

"Um, yeah. How did you know that?" Abby asked.

"When we were in New York, Tony and I were talking about his job and that it was high risk and when I asked how high risk it was, he told me that his partner was killed right in front of him, that he'd had her blood on his face. He didn't tell me her name, though," I explained.

"We all took her death really hard. It was terrible, really. We all expect death to be coming, but when it does, we're not ready for it."

"And all we want to do is turn back time, knowing what was going to happen, and save the person," I said, more to myself, but Abby caught it too.

"Exactly," she said. "You okay, Alyx?" she asked me.

It was then I realized that I had a tear running down my face. My mom's death was still so recent, only sixty eight days ago. A normal person would still be messed up from it, but I'd gotten over the grief part back home. I'd stayed with my best friend, Carolina, after she'd died, not really having any other pace to go. Her family had taken me in without complaint. We'd know each other since we were two and our moms had been best friends, so we all grieved together. That is, until my dad decided he wanted something to do with his daughter. I'd become relatively emotionless since I'd come here, like I'd stopped caring. Now though, it was all coming back.

I whipped at the tear, erasing any trace of it, but more unwanted tears came. I'd thought I was all cried out and I was clearly mistaken. Abby seemed unsure of what to do for a second before she came over to me and hugged me, tucking my head into my shoulder and rubbing my back.

I felt like a child, but right then I didn't really care. Nobody had really touched me since I came here; dad wasn't the hugging type, when he was around, and I hadn't made a lot of friends in New York. It just felt kind of nice.

When I was all cried out, Abby showed me where her bathroom was and told me I was out there if I needed anything. I thanked her and walked in, closing the door behind me. I splashed water on my face and dried it off with a paper towel, figuring I couldn't do anything about my bloodshot eyes. I stayed in there about a minute more, just catching my breath and feeling bad about going back out there to Abby, whom I'd just met and already cried in front of.

When I walked out, Abby was sitting at the desk she'd been at when I'd first come down with Tony. When she saw me, she minimized whatever screen she'd been looking at and looked up at me, leaning back in her chair.

"Feel any better?" she asked me.

"Yeah. Sorry about before. I do not know-" I said, but she cut me off.

"Never apologize for crying. Contrary to popular belief, it's not a sign of weakness. And it's fine. It's something we all need to get out every now and then," she said.

"Okay, thanks. Can we-" I started to say, but she cut me off again.

"Not tell Tony? My lips are sealed. He doesn't have to know a thing," she promised me.

"Thanks," I said again.

"Any time. Well, not _any_ time because you don't need to be crying all the time, but when you need to cry, I'll always be here," she said in a rush, making m laugh at the speed her brain went at.

"Thank you, Abby," I told her, walking over the few feet between us to hug her. I wasn't, and still am not, a big hugger, but Abby seemed to be the exception.

She stroked my hair like my mother used to and rubbed my back. Then she let me go. She got up and walked out to the front room and, before I could say anything, she came back rolling a chair. "Sit down," she said, putting it near hers where she then sat down.

"Thanks. Again," I said.

"No problem. So hey, do you like movies?" she asked.

"They are alright. I know Tony loves them," I said.

"They're his life. So, there's this game, it's called _Box Office Trivia_. We're still waiting for someone to beat this kid, Carson's, score. He beat Tony a few years ago and Tony still hasn't gotten his title back. We need a new champ around here. You in?" Abby asked.

"I will see what I can do," I told her, smiling as she opened the game and we started playing.

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think? I usually (now that my beta is very busy all of the time and therefore not beta-ing for me) look over all of the chapter and see if anything needs to be fixed, but I just kind of want to get this up and go read my book right now, so I'm gonna be a little lazy and not read it over. Don't judge! Please review and, if you see any typos, you can either tell me or not, I'm probably not, in the end, going to go back and fix them. So either way is fine. I realize how bad that all sounds, I really do, but right now I'm tired and my arms are killing me and I just have to get out of Microsoft Word for a while.**

**In other words, have any of you ever seen the show Dark Angel? It was out 2000-2002 and it had Michael Weatherly in it. I've very recently (okay, Thursday night) gotten into it and I love it! I think I'm gonna get it on DVD from the library cause I can't find a good site to watch it on. They're all crappy. But I get it, it's an eight to ten year old show, it's difficult to find. Does anyone else watch? Used to watch? Don't tell me anything that happens if you have. And if you haven't, GO WATCH IT! It has Michael Weatherly for crying out loud! That should be enough! Okay, psychotic rant over.**

**Remember, 15 reviews before chapter 8 goes up! Even if it's just a few words, I want feedback! Feel free to submit favorite lines, favorite part, ect.!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey guys! So I got a lot of positive feedback on the last chapter, which was amazing. I also got some negative comments, but I'm not angry, just irked. Okay, so me asking for some amount of reviews isn't that unreasonable, people. It's the reviews that keep this story going because I'm still not that sure of myself with this one. And I feel like if I don't get any reviews, I won't be able to continue it. We all have our insecurities, and this is mine. I hate feeling like an inadequate writer. **

**But, because a lot of people have a problem with me, I'll take away the review quota and just ask nicely for everyone to review. But if I don't update as fast as I had been doing up to last month when I lost my muse for a while, sorry. This seems to be the story I have the most problems (internally) with. **

**So yeah, reviews would be awesome! Please drop one! Even if it's just a few words or a favorite line or something! Thank you all so much!**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it or anything recognizable in this fic. I do, however, own Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo. She's all mine.**

"Ah! So close!" Abby shouted. We'd been playing _Box Office Trivia_ for the past hour and a half and we'd just come so close to beating the top score, but then had gotten the last question wrong.

"I know! How can we not do this?" I asked. We'd been laughing since this started, it was a lot of fun. Abby wasn't like other adults, she was really cool.

We didn't hear the elevator, so we both jumped when we saw Ziva standing in front of the desk. "We are back," she told us, smiling as Abby gasped. I guess she still wasn't used to Ziva appearing like that.

Abby closed the tab on the computer and looked up at Ziva. "What do you have for me?" she asked in her usual bubbly tone.

"Not much. We did not find a lot to process at the scene," Ziva told her.

"Well they don't call me the best for nothing. I'll get going on it," Abby said and then turned to me. "You can hang here in this room or you can come out there with me, either's fine. You should probably stay in the lab, though, because the team's gonna be in and out all afternoon."

"That's fine," I said, settling back in my chair. I felt Ziva studying me and I looked up at her.

"What is wrong, Alyx?" she asked me.

I looked back down, unable to meet her intense gaze. "Nothing," I told her. She was good.

Ziva sat down in Abby's vacated seat. "Are you sure?" she asked. "You can talk to me and I will not say a word to anyone, not even Tony. I want you to know that. I learned the hard way that I can talk to people if I need to and they will not think anything less of me. It is not always better to keep it bottled up inside," she told me.

"I already talked to Abby. I feel a bit better now. You can ask her if you are really worried about me, but I really am fine," I told her, not trying to make her feel bad that she couldn't get it out of me when Abby could.

"I know I do not seem like the easiest person to talk to, but I want you to know that I will always be here," Ziva told me.

"Thanks, Ziva," I said.

"I have to get back to work, but you have my numbers if you need me or Tony, okay?" she asked.

I nodded. "Good luck on the case," I said. She got up and walked into the first room where Abby was and I saw her gently pull Abby away from her computer and start talking to her. Abby turned around and glanced at me, catching my eye. I nodded, knowing what she was telepathically asking, and then she turned back to Ziva.

After a handful of seconds, Ziva looked back at me again. I looked away again, unable to meet her eyes. She didn't come back, for which I was grateful because I didn't think I could talk about that again right now.

I decided to stay put for a while and I figured that Abby wouldn't mind if I used her computer. I logged into my email and found five new emails waiting there, all from my friends back home. Two were from Carolina and they'd come just hours apart; the first one was asking me how I was and what had been going on since we'd talked last two days ago. The second one was written all in caps, asking why I wasn't responding to her last email and where I was and that she was worried about me because it had never taken me this much time to respond before and threatening to hire private investigators to come and find me.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, not wanting to cry again about how much I missed my best friend in the entire universe. I got settled in and typed her a long response about everything that had happened since I'd last emailed her and how much I missed her.

It was around three thirty when I finished the long email and sent it. It was nine thirty at night her time, but I knew she'd wait up until two in the morning if it meant hearing from me again. I would do the same for her.

After I sent the email, I went out into the front room to see what Abby was doing. When I got out there, she was sitting in front of the computers on the desk in the middle of the room and fingerprints and pictures were flying past the screen so fast that I could barely get a look at any of them.

"Hey, Abby," I said, standing next to the desk where what looked like a stuffed hippo with a spiked collar, like Abby's, was sitting. "Is that a hippo?" I asked.

"Yeah, his name's Bert. What's up? I was gonna go say hi and see if you needed anything about ten minutes ago, but I saw you were typing something and looked busy, so I didn't want to bother you," Abby said.

"I was just emailing my friend, Carolina," I told her. "I did not think you would mind if I used your computer."

"No, it's fine. If you ever want or need to use a computer when you're here, feel free to use that one if I'm not," Abby offered.

"Thanks. She's probably going to answer soon. She emailed me twice in like five hours because I did not answer the first one quickly enough," I said, laughing.

Abby smiled. "I'll bet you two miss each other. What did you say her name was again? Carolina? That's a really pretty name," she said.

"Yeah, Carolina D'Angelo. We have been best friends since we were two and our moms were best friends. The two of us were practically raised as sisters," I told Abby.

"Do you have any pictures of her?" Abby asked me.

"Yeah, a bunch. This is my favorite," I said, pulling out my phone and handing it to her. The background picture was the two of us at the beach this past summer, a few weeks before everything happened. It was sunny and our hair was loose and we were smiling. Carolina has bright blue eyes and the recessive trait of red hair that does not run in her family at all. She doesn't look like anyone in her family and I didn't think I looked like anyone in my family either, until I met my father and my brother, both of whom I resemble greatly. Tony and I look scarily alike for two people who only share a father.

"That's a good one," Abby said, handing the phone back.

"Yeah, I miss her a lot. I was so used to seeing her every day, knowing she would always be right there, and then when I moved here, she wasn't. The two of us are planning for me to go over and visit this summer," I said. "I have the money, so Tony would not have to pay for any of it."

"I bet he wouldn't mind," Abby said. Then there was a bleeping noise from her computer. "I have a hit!" she yelled.

"What do you have, Abby?" I heard a new voice behind me. This one didn't faze Abby, but I jumped.

"We got a hit. Petty Officer, Second Class Jackson Ramirez. But the print was on Murphy's cell phone, so it could be nothing; people borrow other people's cell phones all the time," Abby told him.

"There's no such thing as coincidences, Abs. I'm taking him in. Anything else for me?" Gibbs asked her.

"Anything for _me_? I've been dying down here all afternoon!" Abby said back. She was the only person who didn't seem to be afraid of Gibbs; even Ziva seemed to be at least a little afraid of him.

"It's in the fridge," Gibbs said and walked out of the lab. Abby whipped her head around to face the fridge and I saw her face light up in surprise.

"What?" I asked, confused as to why she was smiling at her fridge, it didn't look any different to me.

"Oh, well, whenever someone from the team comes down, they bring me a Caf-Pow! Gibbs is almost as good a ninja as Ziva and he snuck it in behind my back!" she exclaimed.

"What is Caf-Pow!" I asked her.

"It's only the best drink on Earth! Here, try some," she said, going into a drawer and pulling out a bag with tall, red plastic cups, grabbing one of them, taking off the lid of her huge cup, and pouring some in.

I took a sip of it and practically felt the sugar run into my bloodstream. It was _really_ good. "Wow," I said.

"I know! I usually have about two of three a day, and that's a slow day," she told me.

"How can you drink so much? This stuff is like instant energy," I said.

"That's why I love it. I'm not a huge coffee fan like Gibbs, Tony, and McGee. Ziva likes her tea, but it doesn't have much caffeine in it. This stuff is caffeine and sugar, the two things that keep me going," she explained.

I was pretty much wired after finishing the cup she gave me and couldn't imagine how she downed so many a day. I declined more and went to go check me email again, figuring Carolina had emailed me back by now.

She had, of course. She was Carolina. She told me she was sorry about yelling at me for not emailing her back sooner and a million other things that were going on. Her mom also put in a little note at the end saying that she was glad I was safe and happier and that she'd talking with Carolina about me coming over to visit in the summer and of course she'd be happy to have me.

I wrote a short email back, knowing Carolina wouldn't pick it up until the next day and then I got off the computer. I went over to the doorway where I'd left my bag and opened it. I had a few books in it and grabbed one I'd started a few days ago and settled into the chair at the desk again, opening it and leaning back.

Apparently I'd gotten very into my book, because the next thing I realized was someone calling my name.

"Yeah?" I asked, looking up to see Tony for the first time in a while. "What's up?"

"It's almost eight. You wanna head out? We can get something delivered to the apartment and eat while we get you unpacked," Tony offered.

"Sounds good. How far do you live from here?" I asked him.

"Not too far. About twenty to thirty minutes," he said.

When we got to Tony's apartment, we each took a few trips up to the third floor to get all my stuff up. It was surprising how much we had fit in his car, since it looked so small on the outside, but it was surprisingly spacious inside.

We put everything in the living room for now. Tony had a second bedroom, but it was full of stuff, so we had to clear it out before I could sleep there. We started clearing it out while we waited for the pizza to get here. We'd moved a few things out of the room before there was a knock on the door.

Tony went to get it while I went and washed up. When I got out of the bathroom, I walked into the living room to see Tony sitting there on the couch, the box on the coffee table in front of him, and the remote in his hand flipping past channels.

"You know, you do have a real table. I hear they are useful when you want to sit down and eat," I joked as I sat down on the couch next to him.

He laughed. "Yeah, well, tonight we start expanding your movie knowledge. So, in honor of this great moment in history, I'll let you pick the movie tonight. But _only_ tonight," he told me.

"Anything I want?" I asked him. Tony seemed to take all of this very seriously and I decided to humor him for a little.

"Anything I have. They're all at least semi-approved movies by me, but some are completely out of the question for you right now. But, yeah, pick from what I have," he told me, motioning his hand towards the huge movie collection on the wall.

I stood up and walked over, skimming the titles with my eyes. They were in alphabetical order by name and my eyes stopped when they saw a title I recognized, but had never yet seen. "You have The Princess Bride? I never would have hit you as they type to own that movie," I said.

Tony smiled. "It's 'pegged' not 'hit' and yeah, it's kind of a classic. Have you ever seen it?" he asked.

"I have heard of it, but no, I have not seen it," I said.

"Well then it's your lucky day!" He got up, took the movie off the shelf, and put it in the DVD player. The two of us retreated back to the couch and each grabbed a slice of pizza.

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think? I know it's been a while since my last update, but you really have no idea how crazy my life has been! I don't want to bore you all with the details, so I'll just stop talking now. **

**Please review! It would mean the world to me and it helps me update faster, the more motivation I have! Thanks guys! Like I said before, there's no limit before I update again, but they really help!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry it took me so long to get this up! I lost my muse for a while and, just when I decided that I wanted to write tonight, I had to read for English first. But I'm here now! It's a little short, but I was pressed for time with this! There will be a part 2 to this chapter coming up very soon!**

**Well, that's pretty much all I have to say about that. Monday the 28****th**** is my little brother's birthday, so this chapter is for him, even if he doesn't know it! It's being put up literally less than an hour before he turns 8! Happy Birthday, Kyle!**

**Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, I don't own NCIS much to my dismay. I do, however, own any unrecognizable characters from the show. Everything else belongs to DPB and CBS.**

Tony's car pulled up in front of the school and he put the car in park next to the curb, but didn't turn it off. I'd be the only one getting out here. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't all that nervous. It was _just_ a school.

"You ready for this?" he asked me for the fifth time that morning. I didn't know what was up with him.

"Yeah, Tony, I'm ready. I can do this," I told him.

"Don't forget-" he started, but I cut him off first.

"Don't talk to strangers, call if I need anything, someone will be here to pick me up after school. I'm not a little kid. I'm fine," I said and got out of the car.

He smiled and, right before I closed the car door, he said, "Have a good day." And then he was off.

I walked through the front doors of the school and headed to the main office. Tony and I had been here yesterday to pick up everything I'd need: my schedule, health papers, and a bunch of other things. We'd spent the better part of an hour after we'd gotten home yesterday filling them out. When I walked into the main office, the secretary recognized me from yesterday and smiled at me.

"I have, um, a lot of papers," I said, opening my bag and pulling them out.

"Thanks, sweetie," she said, taking them from me. "You're all set then. You can head on up to homeroom. Do you know the way?" she asked.

"Um, yes," I said. I'd gotten a map of the school and I'd studied it, figuring out where all of my classes would be so that I wouldn't have any trouble finding them today.

I walked towards one of the two mains sets on stairs in West Potomac High School and walked up to the third floor. The school was shaped like an 'E' with three wings off a main hallway. I had to walk all the way down to the other side of the school, E Hall, and to my homeroom, E316. Ironically, my homeroom teacher was an Italian teacher. When I walked into the room, it was empty except for a tall, brown-haired woman sitting behind a desk reading a book. She looked up when I walked in.

"Hi," she said to me, putting the book down, letting me know that I had her full attention. "You must be Alessandra."

I smiled at her, thanking God that my Italian teacher/homeroom teacher was nice. "Yeah, that's me," I said.

"_What part of Italy are you from_?" she asked me in Italian.

"_Just outside Rome_," I told her. It was refreshing to speak in Italian to someone, something I haven't done in a while. It flowed better than my English, though I had both languages mastered.

"_Ah, Rome is beautiful. I lived in Umbria and Lazio for a few years and I miss it there_," she said.

"_Yes, it's quite beautiful_," I agreed.

"_Did you find this classroom alright? Do you know where your classes are?_" she asked me, switching subjects abruptly.

"Yes, I memorized the map. I know where I'm going," I told her.

"_Great. I know it's hard starting school in the middle of a semester, but I've seen your transcripts and you'll do well here," _she said._ "Well, the other students will be getting here soon, so take a seat wherever. There are some nice kids in here, not bad ones like in some other homerooms."_

"_Thanks," _I said to her.

"_No problem_," she said, opening her book and getting back into it.

Ten minutes later, the room was full of kids, most of them either staring at me, or looking at me and then looking away if they caught my eye. I didn't care, really, I knew it would be like this. But I was surprised when someone sat down in the seat next to me and started talking to me, something I never thought would happen.

"Hi," a girl said. I looked over at her; she had blonde hair that was cut just below the shoulders, light brown eyes, and a pretty face. She had on a light blue sweatshirt over a white tee shirt and jeans with black Converse sneakers.

"Hi," I said back. Today, I had my long hair pulled back in a high pony tail on top of my head, a plain, navy blue tee shirt on under a black and red checkered zip-up sweatshirt, jeans, and black skater shoes that Tony and I had gotten a week ago when he noticed that I needed some school clothes. I didn't know why I liked them, I just did.

"My name's Samantha, but my friends call me Sam. What's yours?" she asked.

"Alessandra, but my friends call me Alyx," I told her.

"So, where are you from?" she asked me. "I mean, not trying to be rude here, so tell me if I am."

"No, you are not being rude. I moved here from New York and before that, I lived in Italy my whole life," I told her.

"Wow, that's so cool! So, you speak Italian? Sorry, that was a dumb question, of course you speak Italian! I'm sorry, it's a Monday, you have to forgive me," she said.

I laughed, Sam was a lot like Abby. "You are forgiven. It's fine, really. Yes, I speak both Italian and English fluently, though my brother tells me that I get many American idioms wrong," I told her.

She laughed too. "So, Alyx, what brings you here to this boring Hellhole?" she asked.

"It's complicated. Long story short, I live with my brother now, because of many reasons. And this school was the best choice out of the ones we had," I explained.

"So it's just you and your brother? No parents? Sorry, that was personal. You don't have to answer that if you don't want to. My sister tells me I pry. I've been trying to cut down on it, but I don't even realize I'm doing it half the time," she said, all at a speed that could rival Abby.

"No, I will tell you. My mother died over the summer, and so I went to live with my dad in New York. That fell through pretty quickly and now I live here, with my brother. Yes, he is my only sibling, but I left a best friend, who was just like my sister, in Italy," I told her, revealing more to her than she'd asked. It felt nice to talk to someone my own age again; I'd been surrounded by adults since I'd gotten here.

"I'm sorry about your mom. My mom died when I was younger, but my stepmom's okay," Sam said.

"Do you have any siblings?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I have two sisters, one older, one younger. Their names are Sophia and Sarah. What's your brother's name?"

"His name is Anthony, but everybody calls him Tony," I said.

We would have talked longer, but the bell ran, signaling that we had to go to first period. I had biology first, in the next wing over.

"What's your first class?" Sam asked me, waiting with her backpack slung over her shoulder, waiting for me.

"Biology," I told her.

"With Mr. Cameron?" she asked me.

"Yeah," I said.

"Me too. Come on, I'll show you the way," she said, beckoning for me to follow her.

Maybe today wasn't going to be so bad after all. I'd put up a brave front in the car, but I'd actually been pretty worried that I wouldn't fit in here. Sam proved that maybe I was wrong.

**A/N: Okay, as far as I know, I have a grand total of 1 reader, who I know of, that goes/has gone to my high school. Yes, this high school looks very recognizable to you, doesn't it, you one reader who goes to WMHS as of now. I have never been to West Potomac High School, so if anyone who reads this does go there, I'm sorry that I got it all completely wrong! That's all I have to say on that subject.**

**If it was worth a review, please send one! I know I said that there would be an update soon, and I said that a month ago, and I'm really sorry it took me this long. My life has been in the fast lane, no red lights slowing crap from flying at me and I've been stressed out of my mind. My bad, guys. Really. PLEASE REVIEW! SEND LOVE MY WAY! **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I'm back! I know, it's been forever since the last update and I know I said I'd have this chapter up sooner, and I really wish I had, but my life's been a bit hectic. Try watching your 8 year old brother and 6 year old sister after school almost every weekday and see how much time you have to write after that. It's not a lot, what with homework and, on Tuesdays, watching NCIS. But I'm back now, so let's not dwell on the past! Here's the much awaited chapter 10! Double digits people! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, I don't own NCIS much to my dismay. I do, however, own any unrecognizable characters from the show. Everything else belongs to DPB and CBS.**

Biology was easier than I thought it would be. In European schools, the curriculum is a lot different and a bit more difficult than American schools, so I didn't really find any of my classes difficult until I got to history fourth period. I'd never been a history person, so I always found the class a little difficult. And now I had to learn about a whole different country's history, as opposed to the history of Italy and the surrounding European countries I'd learned about my whole life. But the class wasn't so bad and I only suffered through fifty minutes a day for five days, so I could handle it.

The class I had after that was Italian, which was pretty much a joke for me. They had kept me with my grade level in all of my classes, even though I was a bit ahead academically than my classmates. I was in all of the higher classes, at the honors level, so it was enough to keep me at least a little challenged.

"Buon giorno," I heard when I walked back into my homeroom, this time for class. Mrs. Cooper greeted everyone who walked in the same way and some said it back, some just smiled though.

When someone sat down beside me, I looked up to see who it was. It was Sam.

"I did not know you took this class," I said, smiling. It was good to see a familiar face again after half a day of knowing no one.

"And this class is just an easy A for you?" she guessed. I nodded.

As class went on, I only half paid attention, answering a question when I was asked, but otherwise keeping quiet. It was a lot different from my class back home, but these kids were only in the beginning of their third year of Italian, while I was almost in my sixteenth.

When Mrs. Cooper assigned us group work from out of the book, Sam turned to me and confessed, "Okay, so I'm really not that great at Italian… Do you think you could help me out?"

I smiled at her. "Sure, what don't you understand?" I asked.

She explained what she didn't get and I told her, as painlessly as I could, how to do it and even did a few examples for her.

"So, that's it? It seemed more complicated than that," she said, looking at the answer I'd shown her.

"No, it's simple really. It's almost the same in Spanish," I said.

"Ah, that would be it. I take French. I have no idea why I take two foreign languages, I suck at both of them," she told me.

"Yeah, it is a little different in French. My French is a little rusty, but I think they do it backwards or something," I said.

"How many languages do you know?" she asked, looking at me, astonished.

"Four. And a friend of my brother's told me that she might teach me more, like Hebrew," I told her. "It is not uncommon in Europe for people, especially young people, to speak more than one language fluently."

"Wow, that's kind of cool though, there are a lot of job opportunities for people with linguistic skills," Sam said. "Like my dad; he has this weird affinity for languages. He knows like five or something like that. He's in the Army and he translates stuff for them. And when he gets deployed, he's not always gone as long."

"My brother's boss was a Marine and his friend, her name's Ziva, she's Israeli and she was in their Army, or something like that, for a while before she got the job that led her here." I didn't want to mention that my brother's co-worker used to be an assassin. Usually it makes people back away in fear, not necessarily in Tony's line of work, but normal people with normal lives. Ha. Normal. My life had been anything but normal since coming to live in the States.

"How does your brother know Ziva?" Sam asked.

"They work together," I said. Tony told me not to tell a lot of people where he worked, not because he wasn't proud of it, but because if I ever said something to the wrong person, they would know where to find him. Like if NCIS had really pissed someone off, but they didn't know who it was directly, they could get to him. I guess this was what he meant when he said he had a high risk job.

The rest of the school day was pretty boring. I met the rest of my teachers, learned nothing new, so, the usual school day. When I walked out the front doors after the last bell, I saw Tony's car parked almost right where he'd dropped me off.

"Hey," Tony said when I slid into the passenger seat. "How was your first day?"

"It was alright, I guess," I told him.

"Anything interesting happen?" he asked as he started to drive away from the school.

"Um, I have a new friend, but that pretty much covers it," I told him.

"What's this friend's name?" he asked.

"_This friend's_ name is Sam," I said.

"Does this Sam have a last name?" Tony asked.

"Yes, she probably does," I said. "I just do not know it."

"Wait, Sam is a girl?" he asked.

"Yes…" I said. "Why do you ask?" Tony just laughed. "What?" I asked.

"God I thought guys were already hitting on you. I hate to go all big-brother on you, but I don't want that. At all. Can I tell you something about me?" he asked.

"Um, sure," I said.

"When I was your age, hell, what am I talking about, I was still this way up to a few years ago. Anyway, when I was younger, especially in high school, I hit on practically all the girls. I was known for it. And there are always guys like that at every school and I don't want you to fall into their traps," Tony told me. "You're a very pretty and very smart girl and I don't want you falling for some loser."

"I promise I will not," I said honestly and thought of my best guy friend back home, Niccolo.

"Um, okay, um, I really don't want to be the one to bring this up, but have you had the, um, _talk_ yet?" he asked really awkwardly without looking at me.

"The talk?" I asked, feeling as though I was missing something.

"About boys?" he asked.

It was my turn to laugh. "Do not worry, Tony, you are off the hook," I told him.

He breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "Thank God."

"I do not think God has anything to do with it. But, just so you know, I do not go after stupid boys. I left the only boy I really like in Italy, so you are all set," I said.

"What's his name?" Tony asked.

"Niccolo," I told him. "Though I do not think he likes me back."

"Can I tell you something about boys?" Tony asked. I nodded. "Boys sometimes have a hard time expressing their feelings, so they just leave the relationship where it is, whether you're friends or he doesn't know you. Sometimes you have to be the one to make the first move," he said.

"Thank you, Tony," I said.

"Hey, as long as he's worth it," Tony said.

When we got to NCIS, I went up to what Tony called the Bull Pen with him, though I was sure they were not keeping any bulls up there. He got me a chair and put it next to his desk so I could do homework and he could work on whatever he had been doing before he left. We all sat in silence until Gibbs' phone rang about half an hour later.

"Yeah, Gibbs," he answered and then listened for a little and then said, "Okay, we'll be right there."

Tony, Ziva, and McGee all looked up when Gibbs hung up. Tony was the first one to say anything. "Boss?" he asked.

"Grab your gear," was all Gibbs said. "Ziva, take Alyx down to Abby's," he said before walking to the elevator with Tony and Tim flanking him, attaching guns to their hips the same ay Ziva did and hoisting backpack over their shoulders.

"Grab your things," Ziva said to me. I quickly closed my notebook and put it into my backpack and slung it over my shoulder.

"Do you guys have another case?" I asked Ziva as we waited for the elevator that would take me to Abby's.

"Yes, we do. I am so sorry to leave you," she said as we got out of the elevator. "Abby?" she called into the lab.

"Hey, Ziva!" Abby said, coming into the front room.

"Abby, we have a case," Ziva explained.

"Say no more. Alyx can stay," Abby said.

"Thanks. I will see you both later," Ziva said, rushing out to the elevator again and jabbing at the button, as though that would make it come faster.

"So, squirt, what are we gonna do today?" Abby asked me once Ziva left.

**A/N: Okay, I admit, it wasn't very long, but hey, a chapter's a chapter, right? I'm so sorry that there hasn't been an update in a while, but I've been a little busy these past few weeks. Please review and tell me favorite lines/parts/parts you didn't like/things you want to see/anything else. I'm gonna try really hard to get another chapter of this up again because I really like this fic and I have a few ideas for it! Thanks for reading guys!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: hey guys! I know, it's been a while for this, and I'm sorry about that. Life gets in the way sometimes, you know? Well, I have to make this note quick, so that's about all I have to say! Happy reading! Please review! It would make my day! **

**Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, I don't own NCIS much to my dismay. I do, however, own any unrecognizable characters from the show. Everything else belongs to DPB and CBS.**

-break-

Abby and I just kind of hung around the lab waiting for the team to get back. She did some work at her computer in the front room and I sat at the desk in the back with my papers spread out, trying to decipher the book we had to read for English, Lord of the Flies by William Golding and failing miserably. There were apparently symbols throughout the book that represented things, but I had no idea what they were. I had three tabs open on the computer and was flipping through them, looking for anything that might help me when Abby came in.

"You look like you're having trouble," she said.

"Have you ever read Lord of the Flies?" I asked her.

She laughed. "Sadly, yes I have," she told me. "Hated every minute of it."

"Yeah, I hate it too. My teacher is making me read the first three chapters tonight so that I can catch up to where the class is and it is very difficult to get through," I explained.

"That sucks. Well I'll help you as best I can. I don't think Ziva would have read it in Israel and I doubt Tony read it in high school. That leaves Tim and me, but since Tim isn't here, just me," she said.

"Thanks, Abby," I said, gratefully.

For the next hour, the two of us tried to figure out what Golding was trying to say and Abby was a surprisingly good teacher. I took notes on both what she said and what the book said and hoped that I would pass any test my teacher gave on this.

-break-

When the team got back, Abby had to leave me alone to do the last chapter which she worked with the evidence. The door between the office and the main lab was closed so that Abby could have her music on and not distract me, but I still felt the beats through the walls. I'd gotten used to Abby's music and began to like some of it, much to Tony's dismay. He wasn't the biggest fan of Abby's stuff, so when I played it at the apartment, I had to keep it quiet.

Gibbs sent everyone home at nine thirty that night, later than usual, so I assumed it was a tough case. Tony came down to get me and the two of us left Abby in the lab, where Tony said she'd probably stay all night.

When we got back to the apartment, Tony crashed on the couch and I grabbed some pizza from the fridge, knowing he was probably hungry as well. I'd gone out and got dinner for Abby and me around seven and we ended up with sandwiches that I all but wolfed down, starving by that point. I'd also grabbed two Caf-Pow!s because Abby had gotten me addicted to caffeine.

I went to bed at eleven, leaving Tony on the couch where he'd probably spend the night. He'd done that more than a few times and at first I'd told him that he was going to hurt his back if he did that too much, but I'd stopped and let him have it. If he wanted to break, fine by me.

-break-

I woke up the next morning at my usual time, five forty five. I turned off my alarm and was out of bed as fast as I could force myself to, knowing I had to be in and out of the shower by six if I wanted to be on time this morning.

I took a quick shower and walked out of the bathroom dressed only in a towel and only then did I realize that I didn't hear Tony moving around the apartment like I usually did by that point in the morning. He hadn't shouted hello to me while I was in the shower and there didn't seem to be any sign of him.

"Tony?" I called from the hallway. I was almost in my doorway, meaning I couldn't see the living room where I'd left Tony on the couch last night. There was no answer for a second and then I heard a voice I hadn't been expecting.

"Alyx?" I heard Ziva say.

"Ziva, why are you here?" I asked her.

She rounded the corner and took a look at what I was wearing. "Get dressed. You are not going to school today," she told me.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"Please just get dressed and then I will tell you," she said.

I did as I was told. I quickly shut the door behind me and grabbed the first clean clothes I saw. I threw on jeans and a grey sweatshirt on over a blue tee shirt. I opened my door to see Ziva leaning against the wall in the hallway outside my room. She looked tired, as if she'd been up for a few hours now, though it was only a little past six.

"Are you going to tell me now?" I asked her.

Ziva moved into the room and looked at me. "Gibbs called Tony, McGee and I into work around three this morning. Gibbs had not left the office and neither had Abby, who always pushes herself past her limits when we have tough cases. Anyway, there was a breakthrough and he called us in so we could deal with it. Tony and McGee were out at the suspect's house, it was all just routine, something we do all the time. But Tony and McGee were gone too long and Gibbs and I began worrying. They should have been back by then," she said and stopped to regain her train of thought.

"Ziva? Where's my brother?" I asked her. My first thought was the hospital.

"Both Tony and McGee were taken hostage by our suspect. That was why they did not come back," Ziva told me.

"Oh my God…" I whispered. I started shaking. Tony was the only family I had left who cared about me and he was missing. "Ziva, you have to find him."

She walked over to me and hugged me, something I never really expected from Ziva, but it was something I needed just then. I hugged her back. "We will get them," she promised me.

-break-

Walking into Abby's lab an hour later, I was still in shock. Tony had been taken hostage. There was always the chance that he wouldn't come back. And that scared me beyond belief. I couldn't lose anymore family.

Abby hugged me when I walked in and I could tell she'd been crying. I knew she was close with everyone on the team, so this was as hard for her as it was for me. I also knew she liked Tim more than she let on, but she didn't think he felt the same way about her. Now she probably feared that she'd never get the chance to tell him.

I mostly stayed out of the way as Abby worked without stopping to do anything with the evidence she had. I took as long a nap as I could on the couch, given that it was eight in the morning on a school day when I should be in school but was locked in a Federal agency. Ziva had told me that on our way here that I was on lockdown because I was an easier target than anyone else on the team and that I could easily be used for leverage.

Abby's lab got boring around lunch time and I was allowed to go up to the Bull Pen to see Gibbs and Ziva. Gibbs had been down a few times that day, but I hadn't seen Ziva since she dropped me off and practically ran to the elevator. She was worried sick about Tony and McGee too, especially Tony. I kept waiting for the day that the two of them would get together, but now they may never get the chance.

I knew I shouldn't think about this, and I tried to keep the thought out of my head as I made my way to Gibbs' team's group of desks by the big window. Half of the desks were empty. I sat down at Tony's desk across from Ziva and she gave me a tight smile before going back to her work.

Gibbs got a call a few minutes later and he answered with his usual, "Yeah, Gibbs." He listened for a few seconds and then said, "Alright. I'll see you in two hours then." He hung up and noticed Ziva and I both looking at him. "The kidnapper wants ten grand a piece for DiNozzo and McGee," he told us.

"Gibbs, we do not have that kind of money just lying around," Ziva said.

"That's why NCIS has a hostage fund," Gibbs explained.

Both he and Ziva stood up, but Gibbs shook his head at her. "He asked for me to go alone. You need to stay here," he told her.

"Gibbs, that is not fair! You cannot all go and just leave me! I am a part of this team too!" she said, vehemently moving around her desk to stand in front of Gibbs'.

"You think I don't know that, David? I wasn't just thinking of you, here. If we all go, what'll happen to Alyx?" he asked her. I was surprised to hear my name come into all of this and they both turned to look at me. Ziva's eyes shone with tears that would never fall and Gibbs had his usual hard glare, but there was kindness to it this time. "She needs someone, too," Gibbs said, attaching his gun to his hip and grabbing his coat.

On his way out from around his desk, he stopped next to Ziva and whispered something in her ear. She nodded, pointedly not looking at him, keeping her gaze on me, and then Gibbs walked my way. I assumed he would just pass right by the desk, but he stopped and said, "I'll get him back. That's a promise."

"Thank you, Gibbs," I said as he walked away. I wasn't sure if he'd heard me, but then he nodded his head in my direction before stepping into the elevator.

-break-

Waiting for Gibbs to come back was torture. With nothing to do, all Ziva and I could do was sit at the desks in the Bull Pen and wait. It wasn't something that came easily for either of us. Abby came up twenty minutes after Gibbs left and took post at Tim's desk, fiddling with the computer more than I assumed McGee would like. He and Abby were both computer people and didn't enjoy people messing with them.

After Gibbs had been gone for an hour, which had felt like several lifetimes, Ziva got up and came back a few minutes later with something for all of us: Caf-Pow!s for Abby and me and a soda for her. I couldn't drink the huge Caf-Pow!s that Abby did because even a small one was still a bit more caffeine than my body could handle, but I always drank medium-sized ones anyway. Even with our drinks, we sat in silence for a little while, nobody knowing what to say.

Abby spoke up eventually. "Do you think they're alright?" she asked Ziva.

"Yes, I do. The man apparently specified on the phone that they were alive and he has only had them for about twelve hours now," Ziva said.

"I don't like the sound of that. Twelve hours can be a really long time," Abby said.

"At least we found them. It could be worse. They could have been missing for months," Ziva said.

Abby fell quiet and I knew something unspoken passed between the two of them, but I didn't think my vocal cords were working well enough to function at that point.

-break-

"It's been three hours! What's taking them so long!" Abby exclaimed two hours later. She was an even more impatient person than Ziva and I put together.

"I do not know, Abby. Maybe they got held up in traffic," Ziva said, almost seeming as though she didn't care, but I knew it was just the front she put up to stay strong. Nobody wanted to say what was going around their heads, how many different bad situations were playing and replaying themselves in our brains.

We all jumped for the millionth time when the elevator dinged again, signaling that it was going to open on this floor. We all looked over expectantly, praying to God that _this_ time Tony, Tim, and Gibbs would all walk out of it.

Apparently we'd prayed hard enough, because I heard some familiar laughter come from out of it when the doors opened up and a few seconds later I saw my brother, looking tired, but smiling. His smile increased when he saw me and walked a little quicker to get over to his desk where I was sitting dumbfounded.

"Hey, miss me?" he asked me, smiling his genuine smile and opening up his arms for a hug. Feeling a little childish, I all but jumped into them and hugged him tight, him doing the same. "I'm sorry," he told me, stroking my hair. I'd cried the tears I'd needed to before, so I wasn't crying now.

"You are forgiven. Just do not do it again," I told him.

"Promise," he said and let go of me after a few more moments.

I noticed Abby hugging Tim over by his desk, giving no indications of letting go. Tony walked over to Ziva's desk then and, though I couldn't see the expression on his face, I knew he was smiling. Ziva was half smiling and half scowling at him.

"Ziva," he said.

"Tony, I was so worried," she told him.

"I'm so sorry," he said, opening his arms the way he had for me. And, like me, she walked, calmly, into them and hugged him back. He dipped his head and kissed her on the top of her head. It was as intimate as Tony dared to get in front of Gibbs, I supposed. It was as intimate as I'd ever seen them get. For now, anyway.

-break-

**A/N: So, what did everyone think? I want to know! Please review guys! Hopefully I'll have another chapter up soon! I've actually wanted to write this one for a while, it's been on my mind since the beginning of this fic. Thanks for reading! Please drop a review, even if it's short! I want to know what you think!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hi guys! Bet you were surprised to see this update! I feel terrible! I haven't updated in I don't even know how long! I started this a couple weeks ago, but I finally finished it today. Hopefully I'll have another chapter up soon! I miss updating twice a week like I used to. Life has gotten in the way. Which sucks, but what can you do? Anyway, I hope you like it and please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, I don't own NCIS much to my dismay. I do, however, own any unrecognizable characters from the show. Everything else belongs to DPB and CBS.**

-break-

"Thank you again for doing this on such short notice, Alyx," Mrs. Braverman said as she stood at the door, purse in hand.

"It's no problem, Mrs. Braverman. The kids and I will have fun," I assured the woman. She was about thirty and she had two kids, seven year old Steph and four year old Cara. I'd sat for them a few times before and the kids liked me. There was also a little boy across the hall that came over to play all the time, Colton. He and Steph are the same age and best friends.

"I'll be back around five thirty. Colton will probably come over soon. If you need anything, the Carters are right across the hall and you have my number if you need me," Mrs. Braverman said.

"I've got it. We'll be fine," I told her.

After she left, I went into the living room where the girls were. Steph was always happy to see me, but it took Cara a few minutes to warm up to me.

As soon as she saw me, Steph immediately yelled, "Hey, Alyx, guess what?"

"What?" I asked her, sitting down on the couch next to Cara, who quickly moved to the other side of the couch, putting some distance between the two of us. I knew that by five she'd practically be sitting on my lap, like always. She loved me after she got over the initial shock of mommy not being home.

"Colton and I got married yesterday!" she exclaimed.

I laughed, but then looked offended. "Well why wasn't I invited?" I asked.

"Because," she said like it was obvious, "it was _my_ wedding, not _yours_."

"But what if I had wanted to come?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she laughed.

"So did he get you a ring?" I asked, looking at her fingers and seeing no ring.

"No, we don't need rings," she said.

I just laughed. Steph was very spunky and this was exactly what I would expect out of her. "So did you change your name from Braverman to Carter?" I asked.

"No, he changed his name," she said simply. I had to laugh again, she was just too cute.

-break-

The afternoon was mostly quiet. Colton ended up coming over about half an hour after Mrs. Braverman left and he stayed until after she got home. I called Tony for a ride when she got back.

"Hey," he answered on the third ring.

"Hey, I need a ride back," I told him.

"Uumm." He paused. "I am not in a position to go anywhere right now."

"Gibbs called you in _another_ Saturday?" I asked. Tony was supposed to have today off.

"I'm sorry," he apologized for Gibbs, who would never actually do it himself. "I'll ask around. I'll get someone there, I promise. What's the address?"

I gave it to him and he hung up, promising again to get someone there. I walked back into the living room and sat back down on the couch.

"Your ride coming, sweetie?" Mrs. Braverman asked.

"I hope so," I answered truthfully.

"I could give you a ride, you know," she offered.

"It's okay, someone should be here soon."

-break-

Ten minutes later, a buzz rang through the apartment, followed by a voice. "This is Special Agent Fornell of the FBI. I'm here to pick up Alyx DiNozzo."

Mrs. Braverman looked at me, astonished. She didn't know Tony was NCIS, so it was a bit of a shock for her. I hit the button and told Agent Fornell that I'd be right down. Mrs. Braverman paid me, I grabbed my bag, said goodbye to the kids, and walked downstairs.

I met Fornell in the lobby. He was about as old as Gibbs and looked just as tough. He noticed me right away. "You must be Alyx. You look just like your brother. My name's Agent Fornell, I'm with the FBI," he introduced and held out his badge.

"How do I know this is real?" I asked. Tony had warned me about people pretending to be feds to get to him through me.

He shrugged. "Fair enough. Okay, I've known Gibbs for years. He's an insufferable bastard and can be a pain in my ass. Like I said before, you look just like your brother, Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. The forensic scientist they have at NCIS, her name is Abby and she's goth. Your ME-"

I cut him off there. "Okay, I believe you. So, what happened, Agent Fornell? Loose a crime scene?" I asked. We walked out of the building and to his car, parked right out front.

"God, you even sound like him. Yeah, NCIS took over. Guy turned out to be a sailor," he explained.

"So you got the short straw and had to come get me," I finished for him.

He laughed. "Ah, it's not so bad. Less work for me and my team. We have enough going on at the moment."

-break-

Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up to the main gate at the Navy Yard. Fornell flashed his badge and we went right through. He headed for the parking lot before I stopped him.

"It's okay, you don't have to walk me in," I told him.

"I know. I have something to tell Jethro and its always more fun heckling him to his face rather than over the phone," he said as he parked and we headed for the building.

When we got up to the squad room, we stopped in our tracks. The team wasn't there. Fornell had said that they were going to beat us back here.

"Maybe they're down with Abby?" I suggested.

We walked across the room to the elevator that would take us to Abby's lab. When the doors opened on her floor, the first thing I noticed was that Abby's insanely loud music wasn't playing. I wrote it off as nothing and walked into the familiar lab, followed by Fornell. I saw a flash of what looked like a crying Abby before I had her arms wrapped around me tightly, like she was sinking and I was the only thing holding her up.

"Abby, what's up?" I asked as she cried and held me closer, if that was possible.

"Tony got shot."

-break-

**A/N: Cliffhanger! Hope everyone enjoyed my first update in just under 5 months… I hadn't realized that was the last time I updated this… I now feel terrible.**

**I'm going away for the weekend so please leave me some reviews to come home to! Thanks guys!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hi guys! Okay, the amount of feedback really surprised me! I thought everyone would have forgotten about me and this fic. Apparently I was wrong. And I'm really happy about that! So, as a gift for you all, I wrote this and am putting it up as soon as I can. **

**Want to know where I wrote this from? The car, starting around 8:45pm, driving from Boston, Mass to Naples, Maine. It's a solid two and a half hour drive and this kept me occupied for a solid hour. My stepmother, who I am not the biggest fan of, is playing her music too loudly and I forgot my good headphones, so I'm using an old pair and only one ear works and I can't tune out her obnoxious voice or terrible music. This is my form of Hell. **

**Well, enjoy the chapter! Please read and review! Thanks guys! This chapter is dedicated to all of you who reviewed the last chapter. All of those reviews have made me smile so much!**

**Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, I don't own NCIS much to my dismay. I do, however, own any unrecognizable characters from the show. Everything else belongs to DPB and CBS.**

-break-

_We walked across the room to the elevator that would take us to Abby's lab. When the doors opened on her floor, the first thing I noticed was that Abby's insanely loud music wasn't playing. I wrote it off as nothing and walked into the familiar lab, followed by Fornell. I saw a flash of what looked like a crying Abby before I had her arms wrapped around me tightly, like she was sinking and I was the only thing holding her up._

"_Abby, what's up?" I asked as she cried and held me closer, if that was possible._

"_Tony got shot."_

-break-

My heart dropped to my feet. No, she had to be wrong. Tony didn't get hurt. I was dreaming, having a nightmare. Any second I was going to wake up and find out I was imagining all of this.

"No," I said into her shoulder.

"'No' what?" she asked.

"He can't be hurt. He's Tony. He's my brother. He can't…" I trailed off, not knowing what I was saying.

"It was an accident. Someone pulled a gun. Tony jumped in front of it to save Ziva," Abby told me. Fornell, who had been quiet up till now, let out a little "humph".

I squeezed my eyes shut and then re-opened them, expecting to find myself in my room at Tony and my apartment, the dark purple walls staring back at me. Instead I found myself still in the lab, Abby holding me, tears still falling down her face.

That was when my resolve broke as well. I started sobbing into her shoulder, like I had when we'd talked about my mom a month or so ago. I couldn't lose more family, enough was gone already. I had none left. This was Tony's family, but not legally. What would happen now?

"How bad, Abby?" I asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"I don't know. Ziva called and told me Tony had been shot and they were at Bethesda and Tony was in surgery. She asked me to get you and bring you. Gibbs and Tim were getting the guy then were going to meet Ziva and Tony there," Abby told me.

"Oh my God, Abby. What's going to happen?" I asked.

"You and I are going to the hospital. We're going to figure this all out together. Everything's going to be okay. It's Tony, he can't die unless Gibbs gives him permission, which he didn't," she said.

-break-

The ride to the hospital was my own form of Hell. It was torture, not knowing what had happened or was going to happen. If Tony was dead… No, I couldn't think like that. He would be okay. He had to be.

We pulled up in front of the hospital and Abby let me out, telling me that Ziva was on the second floor, to the right of the elevator. I followed her directions and found Ziva a minute later. She was sitting on a chair in a waiting room with a few other people. She had her face in her hands and her shoulders were shaking.

She looked up when she heard footsteps approaching her. She stood up when she saw it was me. Her eyes were red, just like mine. She looked scared.

Seeing Ziva, strong and unafraid Ziva, like that, made me start crying again. She walked the few feet between us and wrapped her arms around me, like Abby had. She smoothed my hair and held me closer while I cried harder. When I started calming down, I took some deep breaths and asked, "What happened?"

She whipped her eyes and led me back to the chairs. "We were just finishing processing the scene when we saw someone come in the back door. He had a gun. We didn't have time to pull ours out. He aimed at me, for whatever reason and Tony moved to block me at the last second. He took the bullet for me."

I closed my eyes, willing myself not to cry. "He loves you," I told her. "He doesn't know how to show it any other way than he does. So, how is he? Where did he get shot? How bad is it, Ziva?" I asked, my bottom lip quivering. I was still afraid to hear the answer.

"The man was a terrible shot. He got Tony in the side. No organs were hit, but he lost a lot of blood. That's what is scaring the doctors. You can only lose so much blood before it knocks you out," she said.

I was about to say something, but then we saw a doctor walking towards us. He could have been going to any of the other families here, but he stopped in front of us.

"Are you the family of Special Agent DiNozzo?" he asked.

"Yes," Ziva said. "How is he?"

"Stable. It took a little longer than usual to patch up the wound, but we stopped the bleeding. He should be okay. I can only let family in right now. You can go see him, if you want," he told us.

"What room?" I asked.

"Two forty four. He's awake," the doctor said.

I looked at Ziva. "Are you coming?" I asked.

"In a minute. I want to talk to his doctor first," she told me.

"Okay," I said and headed down the hall. I counted the room numbers in my head, getting closer and closer to 244.

His door was open and I stuck my head in. Tony saw me right away. "Alyx, hey!" he called.

My eyes watered, seeing him sitting there, looking almost okay, after worrying me for so long. I was afraid of going near him now, not wanting to hurt him. "Hi," I said, taking a few steps into the room.

"What, no hug? Hey, I'm okay. Just a little shot up," he said, half smiling and pointing to his left side, the side further from me.

I walked over and hugged him. I started crying again, but this time I was happy. Half an hour ago, I thought he was dead. I didn't know what would happen if he died. "Sorry," I apologized. I hated crying and I had done a good amount today. "I was really worried," I admitted.

"Sorry for scaring you. It wasn't intentional," he said.

"It was heroic, what you did. Ziva's been worried sick. When I got here, she was crying," I told him.

He sighed, sounding distressed. "Is she here? Can you get her for me?" he asked.

"Yeah, hold on," I told him. I walked out of the room and found myself face to face with Ziva. "He wants to see you," I said.

She nodded and walked into the room. I went out to the waiting room just as Abby walked out of the elevator. "Abby!" I called to her and she turned to me.

"Hey! Have you seen Tony yet? How is he? What have you heard?" she asked, walking up to me and hugging me again.

"Yes, I have seen him. He's okay. He's awake. Ziva is in there with him now," I told Abby.

"Alone?" Abby asked.

"Yes. He took the bullet for her," I said.

"Oh my God! Maybe they're going to _finally_ get over their differences and get together! They've had chemistry for years!" Abby said, too loudly.

"So you have noticed it too?" I asked.

"Honey, even Gibbs has noticed it. Rule Twelve is probably the only thing keeping them apart," she said.

"Never date a co-worker, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said. We sat in silence for about thirty seconds before Abby said, "God I want to go in there and hug him and head-slap him for scaring us, but I don't want to interrupt fate!"

I laughed for the first time in a while. "They will finish soon. You will be able to see him as soon as Ziva comes out," I told her.

Ziva came out a few minutes later, a big smile on her face. Abby smiled at her and ran and hugged her. She whispered something in Ziva's ear, and then all but ran to Tony's room.

Ziva sat down in Abby's vacated seat, her smile never leaving her face. I had to smile too, she looked too happy. "So," I asked, "anything you can tell me?"

Ziva bit her lip and looked at me, sizing up the situation. "You were right," she finally said.

"Tony told you?" I asked, my smile lighting up even more.

"In more words, but yes," she said, blushing a little.

I leaned over and hugged her. "I know it's none of my business, but if Tony's going to have a girlfriend, I'm glad it's you," I told her.

-break-

**A/N: Good chapter? I hope so! I'm pretty happy with it. I was debating about going another way with this, but when I ran that idea by my friends, one told me to, and the other told me that I would be down a friend if I went that way. I went with this idea. As I told her, I love her more than I love reviews. She's one of my best and closest friends. She's stuck with me through all the crap that's been going on in my life and she doesn't judge me for it. She's on this site, though she doesn't read this fic. Though, if she were ever to read this, I think she knows who she is.**

**Anyway, personal rant over, reviews would be much appreciated! They always make me smile and I could use more smiling these days. And they might give me a little more incentive to update this sooner… I take ideas, suggestions, favorite lines, favorite parts, and just generally anything you want to say. **

**Another side note, if anyone ever needs to talk, my inbox is always open. Everyone goes through their own stuff, some of it harder than others can imagine. I've had people who were there for me and I just want you all to know that I'll be there for you if you ever need someone. Anything you need to or want to say. I don't judge and I'd be happy to help with anything. Just letting you all know.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Okay, so clearly I must love you guys, two updates in one day! Let's just say, I've caught the writing bug again. Which is actually not as good of a thing as it sounds because I have a lot of school work to do before I go back. Oh well, this is much more amusing. I hope everyone likes it! Please read and review! Thanks! **

**And I was serious about what I said at the end of the last chapter. PM me if you ever need to talk or anything.**

**Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, I don't own NCIS much to my dismay. I do, however, own any unrecognizable characters from the show. Everything else belongs to DPB and CBS.**

-break-

"So, spring break is coming up, huh?" Tony asked on our way to NCIS after school. It was mid-April, I had my permit, and Tony usually let me drive.

I took a left onto the street before the Navy Yard and said, "Yeah, next week. Friday is the last day. Why?"

"Ziva and I were thinking of going on vacation. We have an uncle in New York and you've never met him. We were thinking of spending a week with him and his wife and kids. They have three kids, Nick, Sophia, and Zack. Sophie's your age, just a month younger than you. I called them the other day and they said they'd be happy to have us," Tony finished as we pulled up to the gate. Tony flashed the guards his badge and we were let though.

"That sounds fun," I said, smiling.

"Great! If you didn't want to go, I could arrange for you to stay with Abby or someone, but I'm really glad you want to go," he said.

We got out and closed the doors of the car. I tossed him the keys and slung my bag over my shoulder. I knew we had other family, I just didn't know where. I was also really happy that Ziva was coming. Ever since Tony got shot and they admitted their feelings, they had been even more inseparable than they had been before. Ziva was at our place every weekend that they didn't have to work and they went out a lot. I was really happy for them, and I saw how it affected Tony. She made him so happy and I know he made her happy too.

Whenever Tony had to work late and Ziva didn't, the two of us would hang out. We got really close and quickly became almost a mother figure to me. Sometimes, she, Abby and I would go out for a girl's night, we'd go to dinner and find something else to do. Abby and Tim had started going out around Christmas, not too long after Tony and Ziva, and they all got multiple head-slaps, well, not Abby, but Gibbs' agents. So we would go out and the guys, usually just Tim and Tony, but sometimes Gibbs as well, would all get together at Gibbs' and watch a game on TV or something.

When we got into the building, Tony and I both headed for the elevator, after I picked up my pass. It was Wednesday, so my vacation started in two days, and I didn't have a lot of homework to do. I was almost done with my sophomore year of high school and I couldn't be happier. Sam and I remained close and she was getting better at Italian. She had a B minus when I transferred into school, now she had an A. I had decided to take both Italian and Spanish, to keep myself refreshed on both languages and I maintained a good grade in both classes. Everything else was just basic school: biology, geometry and English 10. The only class where I really had any trouble in was American History, required of every sophomore. I knew a lot of European history and the histories of other countries, but we had never had to learn American history. I kept up a good grade in that class nonetheless. Biology was the other class where I had a few problems, but Abby helped me out with that.

I sat down in a chair next to Tony's desk and took out the little homework that my geometry teacher and history teacher had left for us. We'd all groaned when my geometry teacher, Mr. Montgomery, had handed out the worksheet, but we weren't surprised to get history homework. Mrs. Daley gave us homework almost every night, sometimes on weekends. Almost no teacher gave us homework on weekends, but she did. And if we groaned or said anything about it, she'd give us more. We never complained.

It took me about half an hour to finish my homework and then I pulled out the book I'd been reading. Tim had given me a few books when I first moved here, and the first Harry Potter was among them. I had read that one in just over a week and Tony had come home one night, surprising me with books two and three. I finished the second one by New Years Eve and the third one by the end of January. My work load from school had picked up significantly after Christmas, so any time I had after school was spent doing homework, eating dinner late, and then crashing around ten, if we were home.

I'd had to stay with some of the team when Tony and Ziva were sent off on a mission. I'd stayed with Abby when the two of them had gone to Paris. Tim and I hung out one weekend when they had to go somewhere or other for Gibbs. If they ever went out on a date, I usually stayed home on my own, sometimes with Abby coming over. Tony and I had talked about that a few times. I knew he was sort of paranoid, being a federal agent, but I reminded him that I was sixteen now and he wasn't treating me like I was my age. Sometimes he was more of a father than a brother, but it was what we both needed. I'd never had a real father, my mom was usually single, but Carolina's father was always nice to me and I was welcome there whenever I wanted. We still talked all the time, she kept me updated about things back home and I told her about everything here. We were planning for me to spend the summer there.

-break-

The next two days passed without much fuss. Tony and Ziva had gotten to go ahead from Gibbs to take the next week and two days off and I was free from school. We did some last-minute packing when I got back from school on Friday, after having packed most of it before then, and then Tony and I picked Ziva up at her apartment and we started our drive to New York.

It was eight o'clock when we got there. We pulled up to a good-sized house and parked behind a black Lexus in the driveway. Tony got out right away, Ziva and I following him hesitantly. Though it was my family's house, I had never been there and was nervous. I figured Ziva was as well, but she didn't let it show as she got her suitcase and backpack out of the trunk. I followed suit and the three of us made our way to the front door.

Tony knocked and it was answered a second later by a man in his mid twenties. His face lit up when he saw who it was. "Tony!" he said and the two hugged.

"Nicky! How are you?" Tony asked as Nick let us all into the house and closed the door behind us.

"Good. I'm following in your footsteps, actually. I don't know how much my dad told you, but I'm studying to be a cop. This time next year I'm going to be Officer DiNozzo," Nick told Tony.

"That's great. Where is your dad?" Tony asked.

Nick was about to answer when a voice came from upstairs. "Tony? Is that you, boy?" A second later, I saw a pair of feet coming down the stairs, followed quickly by the rest of the man. Uncle Vinny was my dad's, Tony Senior, twin brother. They were fraternal, but there were still many similarities.

"Uncle Vinny, hi!" Tony greeted and the two of them hugged as well.

"This must be Alyx," he said, looking me over. "Well, you can tell she's family." He smiled. "Nice to meet you," he said and held his hand out to me.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Uncle," I said, smiling.

"And this," he said, turning to Ziva, "must be that girl you can't stop talking about. Ziva, right?"

Ziva blushed a little and shook his hand. "That is correct," she told him.

Uncle Vinny turned to Nick and asked, "Where are Soph and Zack?"

"Right here," a girl's voice said, coming down the stairs. She had red hair and bright blue eyes. She looked about my height and was wearing jeans and a gray sweatshirt that said 'New York'. The boy that followed her, Zack, looked about thirteen and he had on jeans and a tee shirt that said something about video games. "Hi!" she said when she saw Tony and gave him a hug.

"Sophie, how are you?" he asked, hugging her back.

"I'm good. I'm really happy you guys came. It's been so long since we've seen you. It's been, since when, Nona's funeral?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so. Two years ago? Wow, it's been a little while. This is Alyx," Tony said, pulling me closer to him on his right side, "and Ziva," he introduced, putting his other arm around her waist. We were like a little dysfunctional family, but we made it work.

"It's so great to meet you guys," Sophie said, hugging me and then Ziva. She was a little like Abby, very upbeat and hug-y.

"Nice to meet you too," I said. We looked a little alike, with the same facial structure. The features were a little different though. As soon as Aunt Jenna walked in, I figured out why. Sophie looked just like her mother; she was even on the shorter side like her. With Zack and Nick, I saw more family resemblance with them. Zack shared his sister's hair color, but looked more like his father. Nick had the same hair as his father, Tony, and I shared, but his face was more heart-shaped, like his mothers. Also like Ziva, though Ziva wasn't technically a DiNozzo. Yet.

"Tony! How are you?" Jenna greeted him, hugging him and then pulling back and cupping his face, smiling at her nephew.

"I'm good, Aunt Jenna. I want you to meet Alyx and Ziva. Alyx, this is Aunt Jenna. Aunt Jenna, this is Alyx, the little sister I was telling you about. And this is my girlfriend, Ziva. We work together," Tony introduced us a little awkwardly, but Jenna quickly let go of Tony to come hug me.

She pulled back and gave me a once-over. "Well you look just like your brother. I bet everybody tells you that. But it's true. If I didn't know better, I'd guess that you were his daughter." That made me blush a little, but I knew I would like her. She was nice. I hadn't had much family in Italy. Mom was an only child and my grandfather died before I was born. So growing up, it was just mom, Nona, and me. Tony had told me a bit about his childhood, growing up with all his cousins and aunts and uncles and I was jealous. Family was important to him and Ziva too. She'd had two siblings, and grown up surrounded by family as well. I was just now realizing how it felt.

Vinny and Jenna showed us where we'd be sleeping, Tony and Ziva in the spare room and I'd be staying in Sophie's room. Nick and Zack still shared a room when Nick was home from school, which he happened to be this week. He and Tony were hitting it off, 'getting back to old times' Aunt Jenna told Ziva and me. There was a nine year difference between them, but Nick had always looked up to Tony, following in his cousin's footsteps becoming a cop.

Ziva and I ended up on the outskirts of the family reunion, though neither of us minded. We stood together and smiled as we watched the family interact.

"Do you miss your family?" I asked Ziva. We were comfortable talking to each other about almost everything.

"At times like this, yes, I do. What about you?" she asked.

"I do, but this is my new family."

-break-

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think? Worthy of a review? Man, I hope so! Leave me anything! Thanks for reading! I'm going to try to have another chapter up as soon as I can, but I do have some work to do before school starts again, so I can't promise anything. But I can tell you that this will always be on my mind. You guys are the best!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hey guys! It's been a while, but I'm back! I lost my muse for a little while, but I got it back a few days ago, and now I have another chapter done! I don't really have much to say, other than that this chapter picks up where 14 left off. Read and review guys! Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, I don't own NCIS much to my dismay. I do, however, own any unrecognizable characters from the show. Everything else belongs to DPB and CBS.**

O.o

Tony, Ziva, Uncle Vinny, and Aunt Jenna decided to sit downstairs in the living room and talk over coffee. Nick and Zack went up to Zack's room because Nick had studying to do and Zack was going back to his video game. Sophie and I headed upstairs after the boys to go to her room and hang out.

I couldn't judge how much we had in common until we entered her room. Any and all available space was filled up with books and CDs. It greatly resembled my old room. The shelves on the walls were full of books and music, as was her desk. There was a small table next to her bed that held four books, her laptop, and a bag of M&Ms. The room wasn't messy, it was just full.

"Sorry about the mess," Sophie said as she watched me appraise her room.

"No, it's great. Mine looks similar. Nice taste in books," I said as I quickly browsed some titles. They were all thriller/mystery/detective stories. I had many similar books.

"Nick and Zack think I'm weird for owning so many, but I'm a book addict. Always have been. Boys just can't appreciate it," she said, sitting down on her bed.

"Tony thinks Ziva and I are crazy because we enjoy reading. But he always buys us books if we ask. Then he complains about feeding into our habits," I said, smiling.

"So, my dad said you grew up in Italy. That's so cool! We went there on vacation a few summers ago and I absolutely loved it. I take the language in school and I do alright, but I'd love to go back. What was it like?" she said very quickly. Her voice inflections and rapidness of tone reminded me of Abby, whose crazy presence I already missed, even though I'd seen her just yesterday.

"It was nice, normal, really. I have a few friends there who I really miss. I'm actually planning to go back this summer. My best friend's family is going to take me in for a few months. They were like my second family, well, they still are, and I miss them so much. And the boy I really like is over there…" I said, blushing as I finished. I didn't know why I'd gone into so much detail, but she was easy to talk to and it somehow felt like we were already close.

"What are their names? What are they like? I have a boyfriend, too. His name's Gregg. And my best friend's name is Willow. Odd name, I know, but it's funny because we were born a few years before Buffy came out and we both love the show. Okay, I'm interrupting your story." She stopped talking and I took that as my cue to get a few words in.

"My best friend's name is Carolina. She and I have been friends and practically sisters ever since we were little. The boy I like, his name is Niccolo. He is not my boyfriend; I am not even sure he thinks about me that way. We have known each other since we were eight," I said.

"Have you talked to him since you moved here?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah, we have emailed back and forth. He has made it sound like he misses me. I really miss him. and Carolina especially. I cannot wait to see them both," I told her. "So how long have you known Willow and Gregg?"

"I met Willow when we were seven, so in the second grade. She was new and didn't know anybody, so I went over to talk to her and she and I have been best friends ever since. Gregg and I actually just met last year through a mutual friend. He's a grade above me, so he'll be a senior this September. My parents didn't approve at first, but now they've gotten used to the idea. Nick still doesn't like him," she said.

"Tony feels the same way. Even when I promised him that Niccolo was not my boyfriend, he was still not happy. Brothers are just overprotective. They want to be the only men that matter in our lives," I said.

"Yeah, I guess, but sometimes it gets annoying. But it's cool that you'll be spending the summer in Italy. I bet you're happy that you get to see your friends again," Sophie said.

"I've already started counting the days. I leave in exactly seventy eight days, eleven weeks from tomorrow. That is basically the only thing getting me through the rest of this school year. Well, that and the fact that I will be getting my license about a week before I leave. And that means I can drive in Italy if I want to," I said, smiling in excitement.

"It must have been hard coming here, away from your family and friends," she said.

"That is actually the reason I came here. I had no family left over there. My Nonna passed away a few years ago and when my mom died last July, I had to come here to live with my father, who pushed me off on Tony the first chance he got," I said, trying to keep the bitterness from my voice, but failing. I couldn't even talk about him without getting angry.

What I didn't tell Sophie was how hard this summer was going to be. Yes, I was going to be surrounded by the people who I could really call family, but it was going to be difficult. Carolina's mom and my mom had been close, so when my mom died, Sara had been almost as upset as I was. This summer, we would all face the one year anniversary of her death together, grieve together, be each other's support through it all. It was another reason I wanted so badly to go back this summer. I didn't think I could do it alone here. Tony and everyone else would be upset for me, but it wouldn't be the same. They didn't know her.

Sophie looked upset at the news about my father, her uncle, both of our flesh and blood. "I'm so sorry about your mom. I didn't know. And your father? Dad's always said Uncle Anthony was bad, but I never thought that it was true. So that's how you came to live with Tony. I kind of wondered, but I thought it would be rude to ask. That really sucks," she summed up.

"Well, it's not all bad. Tony's a great brother and he's been nothing but nice since I got here. And, of course, there's Ziva. And what can only be described as our little family at NCIS," I said.

"So how did she and Tony meet? I've never heard her name before, but, then again, Tony hasn't really been around in years. He'll call dad every now and again, but we don't see him too much," Sophie said.

"They work together. Ziva joined the team in 2005. She's Israeli and it was only supposed to be temporary, but, long story short, five years later she's still here and planning to become a naturalized citizen next month. Tony always teases her about it, but I know he's happy for her," I told Sophie. 

"That's so great. Do you think they're going to get married?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe. Apparently, before a few years ago, Tony was not the commitment type. He has changed a lot," I answered honestly.

We talked for another two hours about school and just our general lives. It was nice, just sitting and talking with a cousin. We had many things in common like reading, favorite school subjects, school subjects we hate. And before we knew it, it was eleven and we were both really tired.

There was a mattress on the floor for me, already made with sheets and everything. I had collapsed onto it when Sophie and I had first come up here and it was pretty comfortable. We were both half asleep by the time we decided to go to sleep. Sophie reached over and flicked the switch by her bed. The room was instantly dark and I was blissfully asleep not too long afterwards.

O.o

When I woke up the next morning, I was the first one up in our room. I quietly got up, grabbed a book from by bag, left the room and headed downstairs. We'd gotten a small tour of the house last night, so I knew my way around. I found an almost deserted living room, a familiar person sitting on one of the couches. She looked up when she heard me.

"Good morning, Alyx," Ziva said.

"Morning," I said, sitting on a chair and opening my book as she went back to hers. I figured she hadn't gone for a run this morning, so she'd probably been down here for about an hour.

We sat in a comfortable silence, reading, as more people woke up and came downstairs. By nine, everyone by Zack and Nick was awake.

Ziva and I decided to help Aunt Jenna with breakfast. She decided to make pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toast. I was put on toast-making duty as Ziva made the pancakes and Aunt Jenna made the bacon and eggs.

"So, how did you two sleep last night?" she asked as we got started.

"Good," I told her.

"Very well," Ziva said.

"I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I'm so glad you three decided to come this week. We haven't seen Tony in years and when he said he was bringing you two, we were so happy. The way he was talking about you two last night, I'm just so glad he has you," Aunt Jenna said.

"Well we are lucky that he is in our lives. He is a wonderful man and he and I were close friends before we started dating. He is the nicest man I've met," Ziva said.

"Yeah, Tony's great," I said, taking a piece of toast out and buttering it.

"So, Alyx, where in Italy did you live? We went on vacation there a few years ago, to Sicily, where Vinny's family is from, and it was absolutely gorgeous," Jenna said.

"I lived right outside if Rome," I told her.

"Wow, all of the culture, right in your backyard. I'll bet you miss it," she said.

"Yes, very much. But I'm going back this summer and I'm staying with my best friend's family," I said.

"Well you're very lucky. I'd love to go back for the summer, spend some time regrouping. But I need to go to work. Maybe when we retire," Aunt Jenna said blissfully.

"Did you go anywhere other than Sicily?" I asked her as I put two more pieces of bread into the toaster.

"Yes, we went to Naples. That was so beautiful. And it was really hot. I couldn't believe how hot it got during the day. I expected heat, but I never expected that," she said.

"Yes, the south of the country gets very hot during the summer. It's usually between one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty degrees during the day," I said. "Locals do not usually go out during the middle of the day, because they know how bad it gets."

"That explains why we didn't run into too many native Italians. Mostly tourists during that time," she laughed.

Ziva and I laughed too, as we'd both been there too. We made small talk until the food was ready and then everyone sat down to eat. The boys woke up and came down when they smelled the food and each loaded up their plates. It was nice to sit around the table and talk with everyone. Everyone told some funny stories that had happened to them and it felt like we were a big family.

O.o

The week passed by quickly, too quickly, and before we knew it, it was Saturday afternoon and we had to pack up the car and head back to DC. There were hugs all around and Sophie and I vowed to stay in touch. We'd become close over the week, what with sharing a room and going out places. She gave me a little tour of the town and things she and her friends liked to do and I even met some of them. It was sad to be leaving that behind. Aunt Jenna and uncle Vinny told us to come back any time we wanted. Tony wished Nick good luck on his test and gave him some pointers. He was so glad Nick was following in his footsteps and becoming a cop.

A last round of hugs was given, and then Tony, Ziva, and I got into the car and drove off. We were all sad that we had to leave, because we'd all had a good week, but we had work and school and our NCIS family to get back to.

When we got home in the early evening, everyone grabbed their bags and trudged into the apartment building where Tony and I lived. Ziva was staying the night because Tony was too tired to drive her home. She didn't mind, though.

We all decided to watch a movie together and while Tony picked it, Ziva and I collapsed on the couch, leaving no room for Tony. When he turned around, he saw what we did, shook his head, put the movie in, and sat down on the floor between us.

O.o

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think? I have no idea where this is going, so if anyone wants to give me a suggestion, it would be much appreciated.**

**Also, I got a few reviews asking for a chapter or even a one-shot to be written about what went on between Tony and Ziva back in chapter 13 after he got shot and the two of them got together. I'm working on it, guys. For some reason, I'd honestly thought I'd written it already and I spent about an hour looking for the file on my computer and found none. This is greatly confusing me. I'll keep looking, and if I can't write anything, I'll just start from scratch.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: hi guys! I bet you all thought I fell off the face of the Earth. Well, I didn't. And now I'm back! I'm in my junior year of high school and it's a lot more stressful than I thought it would be. I've had little time for writing, so I'm sorry about that. But the holidays are coming up soon, so there's some spare time. **

**Just a fair warning, this is more of a girly chapter. I don't think I have any male readers out there, but if there are, you may want to skip this one. Just letting you know.**

**This chapter was actually funny to write. I wanted to see what I could put Tony through. I think I pulled it off. You guys are my judges on this though. Please read and review guys! Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, I don't own NCIS much to my dismay. I do, however, own any unrecognizable characters from the show. Everything else belongs to DPB and CBS.**

O.o

Alyx

I was lying in bed, not sure if I would be able to get up. My lower abdomen was killing me. Good old Mother Nature had hit me pretty hard this month. It started yesterday, and I had planned on going to the store early today to get some more tampons, but I was pretty sure that I'd be planning my funeral first.

Then I remembered that it was Saturday, which meant that I didn't have to get up for anything, though I would eventually have to get up. I silently thanked God and relaxed a bit.

My door was half open, the way I'd left it last night, too tired to get up and close it, so I decided to see if Ziva would go to the store for me. It was nine, so I figured she'd be up. "Hey, Ziva!" I called, loudly enough to be heard from the living room.

I heard footsteps coming down the hall, but they sounded heavier than Ziva's normal steps. Living with two other people, you could usually tell people apart by their footsteps. Ziva's were light, Tony's were heavy. A few seconds later, Tony opened my bedroom door the rest of the way. "Morning," he said.

"Where's Ziva?" I asked. She'd made this run for me before and I was a little embarrassed asking Tony.

"She had to go back to her apartment this morning. She'll be back this afternoon. Why?" Tony asked.

I sighed and silently cursed Ziva. Just when I needed her… I figured then that I'd have to ask Tony. "Uumm, can you do me a favor? I sort of need something at CVS…" I said, trailing off.

The look on Tony's face was almost worth asking. He paled a little and looked slightly terrified, but he nodded his head in consent. "Uumm, yeah, okay," he said.

"If you grab me a piece of paper, I can write it down for you," I told him.

He walked over to my desk and grabbed me a notebook and a pen. I wrote down the brand and kind and even what the box looked like. I tore out the page and he folded it and put it in the pocket of his sweatpants. "I'll be back soon," he said.

"Thanks, Tony," I said.

"Hey, what are brothers for, right?"

O.o

Tony

When I walked into the pharmacy, it felt like everyone in there knew what I was in there to buy. When I looked down the aisle of feminine products, I couldn't believe how many different brands and items there were. It kind of freaked me out. I kept walking and took refuge in the card aisle. Then I did the only thing I could think of and called Ziva, who blissfully picked up on the third ring.

"Hello, Tony," she said.

"Hey, Zee. I need a little help," I confessed.

"With what?" she asked.

"I'm in CVS right now. Alyx asked if I could pick something up for her," I told her.

That was all she needed. "Okay, so when you walk into the aisle, they are sort of in the middle on your left, I think. On the second to the top shelf. The box is pink and green. Do you see them?"

It took me a second, but I saw them, exactly where she said they would be. "Um, yeah. Right in front of me," I confirmed.

"Okay, good. Now, there are two kids, scented and unscented. I do not remember which one she likes. Did she tell you?" she asked.

"She wrote it down for me," I said and pulled the piece of paper Alyx gave me. "It says scented."

"Okay, so read the boxes and find the one that matches. Also, you might want to get some Tylenol," Ziva told me.

"Why?" I asked, as I am not versed into why medicine is needed.

"It helps with the cramps. It's just in the next aisle over," she said.

I walked to the next aisle and found the box. "Okay, got it."

"Alright, one more thing and you are done," she told me.

"But she only asked for-" I started to say and then got cut off.

"Get her some chocolate. Her favorite is-"

"Peanut M&M's," we finished together.

"Thank you, Ziva," I told her. "I don't know if I could have done this without you."

"It was no problem, Tony," she said. "I have to get going. I will see you later, yes?"

"Yeah, see you later. Love you," I said.

"I love you, too," she said and then hung up. My heart still skipped a beat every time she said that.

I grabbed Alyx a big bag of M&M's and then went to the counter to pay for everything. There was an older woman behind the counter. She I put everything down to pay, she said, "You're a brave man. I haven't seen too many men who would do this for their ladies."

"My sister, actually," I told her.

"Well then, you are a great brother."

I smiled my thanks as I paid and she told me to have a good day as she handed me the change and my receipt. The trip hadn't been nearly as painful as I thought it would be, but I wasn't about to tell Alyx that.

O.o

Alyx

I heard Tony come back into the apartment a lot sooner than I thought he'd be back. I heard his shoes hit the floor by the door where we always left them and then his footsteps approached my room.

I heard him knock and I said, "Come in!"

He opened the door and leaned on the frame. "Uumm, here," he said, awkwardly, holding the bag out.

"Thanks," I said, finally getting up and taking the bag from him. It wasn't until I was in the bathroom that I realized there was something other than tampons in the bag.

When I left the bathroom, I found Tony in the kitchen. "Thank you," I told him, giving him a hug. It wasn't something we did all the time; it was the hormones messing with me.

"It was no problem," he said, hugging me back.

I pulled back and looked at him. "So what compelled you to buy the other stuff?"

"Ziva helped me," he confessed.

I laughed. That was how he'd gotten back so fast. "I'll have to thank her later."

O.o

**A/N: Okay, that actually came out to be longer than I thought it would. I hope you all liked it! Reviews would be awesome!**

**On the side, I just watched a new show called The Lying Game. It came out recently and it was amazing! I ordered the books this morning and they should be here within a few weeks! So excited!**

**If anybody has idea about future chapters, please feel free to share! I'm always open to ideas!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey! Check it out! I'm still alive! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but school has been like karma, a you-know-what. Life has just been stressful in general. But I wrote this chapter in only a few hours and I have a brand new inspiration to keep this going, so there should be (fingers crossed) fairly regular updates for at least a few chapters succeeding this one. **

**I have big plans for this fic, let me tell you! Please read and review guys! I really appreciate the feedback and if anyone has any ideas about where they think this should go/interesting plot-points/anything, they are appreciated and welcomed with open arms!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it or anything recognizable in this fic. I do, however, own Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo. She's all mine.**

O.o.O

"He's staring at you again," Sam told me, smiling.

"Shut up," I told her.

"Oh, come on, Alyx! You know you like him! Just admit it!" she said.

"No. I do not. And you cannot make me," I said.

"He's coming over. Don't be stupid," she said to me and then looked at the boy who had just sat down at our lunch table across from me. "Hey, Nate," Sam said to him.

"Hey, Sam. Hi, Alyx," he said.

"Hey, Nate," I said.

Okay, so Sam wasn't technically wrong when she accused me of liking Nate, but she wasn't right either. Nate was a nice guy. I had three of my classes with him and had met him about two weeks after I transferred here. Had I not had someone back home that I liked, maybe Nate would have more of a chance with me.

Ugh! It was all so confusing! Here was Nate Burton, a really nice guy that I liked and who liked me, and I was turning him down for whom? A boy I'd known since I was seven and who lived in another country. This just wasn't fair. God, even my thoughts sounded whiny. It didn't help, or maybe it did, that I was going to be seeing said boy in less than two months.

It had been ten months since I'd been home and I missed everything and everyone. But being here wasn't the torture I thought it would be, I had my brother, Ziva, all of our friends from NCIS, and school friends like Sam and Nate. I felt like I had two totally different lives and I didn't want either of them to change and I didn't want to have to pick between them.

"So, um, Alyx, I was, um, wondering… Are you going to prom?" Nate asked me.

"Um, yeah. Sam, Julie Brooks, Anna Daniels and I are going as a big group. Why?" I asked.

"I was wondering if, um, maybe you'd like to go with me?" he asked, looking very nervous.

I was a little shocked. I couldn't believe he was even asking. But, before I had time to answer, Sam stepped in with her big mouth.

"She'd love to go with you. And don't worry, you won't be the only guy for pictures," she assured him.

I gave her a look that could kill and then looked at Nate, who looked a little confused. "I'd love to go with you, Nate. Really," I told him.

He smiled, happy with my answer. "Great. I guess we can, uh, talk colors later. I'll see you in math," he said and got up and walked back to the table he and his friends always sat at.

"What the hell, Sam!" I exploded after he was out of earshot. "I think I should be able to make my own decisions about who I go or do not go to prom with!"

"Hey, if you don't like the situation, then walk over to his table and tell him that you changed your mind," she said and I just sat quietly, not wanting to do that. "See? I was just pushing you in the direction you want to go in but are too scared of or something. Nate is totally into you and, while I realize you still like Nicolo, he's in _Italy_. Nate is _here_. You can go to prom with Nate and have no obligations with him and then go to Italy this summer with no stings holding you here," she said as though she'd been thinking about this for longer than the ten seconds Nate had been gone.

"Yeah…" I begrudgingly agreed, picking at my sandwich that I'd brought for lunch.

"And, who knows? Maybe you'll end up having a great time and like Nate more than Nicolo. Or maybe you'll realize you want to keep the relationship purely as friends and then start things up with Nicolo over the summer. Anything's possible," she said.

"I guess…" I said. "Tony would kill me if I went away for the summer and came back with a boyfriend, even if he is on another continent."

"Well _this_ is a great way to find out," Sam said.

"You know, you're going to be a great lawyer in ten years," I told her. She hated when people told her that because both of her parents are lawyers and that was the last thing she wanted to do with her life. It was the only come-back I had at the moment and it worked perfectly.

She made a face at me. "Don't even joke about that. You know it's my life's ambition to be an EMT. And you also know that I don't even know why I want to do that. I could be a firefighter slash EMT. And you'll be a cop in some big city and you'll solve this huge crime and you'll be famous and our lives will be great," she said, smiling.

"You live in a fantasy world," I informed her.

"Yeah, but I'm happy there. Now, let's talk prom…"

O.o.O

Two days later, standing in the dress section of the department store Sam brought me to, I couldn't believe how many prom dresses a room could hold. Prom was in three weeks and I'd told Nate that I would be getting my dress today so that we could co-ordinate what he was going to wear.

I don't mind shopping, I love it, but Sam wasn't too keen on the whole dress thing. She only came today because she needed to do the same thing I did: get a dress so her boyfriend, James, could get something to match. The two of them had been going out for seven months and they had decided weeks ago that they were going to prom together.

As we both picked out potential dresses, or I did anyway, we found ourselves talking about Nate and me, again.

"I just don't see why you aren't more excited about this. Now, I've known home since we were nine and we've been friends since the fourth grade and I've never thought about him like that, but there's always been something between you two since you met!" she said, stating her opinion on the matter yet _again_.

"I'm happy, I really am. I'm just torn. What if I really like him, go to Italy this summer, and then figure out that I'm in love with Nicolo or something? Or go and find out that I love Nate and then have to be away from him for two and a half months?" I asked.

"Valid points, yes. As for figuring out you're 'in love with Nicolo', that's great! If it's true love, you two will make it work, even on different continents. If it's Nate, then you'll be back in like seventy five days and then spend all of senior year with him. Whoever you choose, it'll work out in the end," she promised.

"You should be a psychologist with that kind of mind, seeing both sides of everything. And I guess you're right… Hey, what about this one?" I asked, holding up a knee-length, electric blue dress with one shoulder strap with a flower where the strap met the main part of the dress.

"I think you should go try that one on right now," she said.

I laughed but obliged. I had three other dresses in my arms, but I wanted to try that one on first. I was happy with the results. The bust was slim, but flared out at the hips, enough to allow you to dance, but not enough to look weird.

When I walked out of my dressing room, I called to Sam, who was in the room next to me, to come out. She came out in a sea green dress that had straps that connected behind her neck, leaving her upper-back open and it was loose in all the right places and stopped just below her knees.

"If you don't buy that dress, I am stealing your debit card and doing it for you. You look amazing," she told me.

"So do you! James will freak out when he sees you in that," I said.

I'd known James almost as long as I'd known Sam. Whereas she was a little on the shorter side, he was almost six feet tall with blonde hair that matched hers and bright blue eyes. He was a really nice guy, like Nate. Nate was taller, at almost six feet four inches, and he towered over my five feet six inches, which I thought was tall until I stood next to him.

Since we'd both decided on the first and only dresses we'd picked, it took less time than I had planned for and I got home at four, instead of my intended five. Sam waited until I got into the building before she pulled away.

I walked into a silent apartment, as Tony wasn't expecting me for a little while, so I figured he was still at work. I sat down at the table and pulled out some homework to work on until he got home.

O.o.O

When Tony got home at a quarter to five, he looked surprised to see me already there.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you so early. Did your dress shopping trip get cancelled?" he asked, checking the time as he threw his bag down next to the closed apartment door.

"No, it just went really quickly. Want to see my dress?" I asked.

He headed to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. "Sure," he said.

I got up and walked down the short hallway to my room. When I came back out, I held it up in front of me to show him.

"Wow," he said. "Now, who are you going to prom with again? Sam and who else?" Tony wasn't great at remembering my friend's names.

"Sam, Julie, Anna, and some of us are bringing dates. I don't think we have a set number of people yet…" I said. I hadn't actually told Tony about Nate yet…

"Are you bringing a, um, date?" he asked.

I didn't look at him as I answered, "Uh, yeah."

When I looked up, I could see the internal debate going on in my brother's head. "Do I know him?" he finally asked.

"Do you remember me talking about my friend Nate?" I asked. He nodded so I continued, "Well, I'm going with him. Just as friends, though."

He relaxed, but only a little. "And there's no way I can talk you out of this?"

"No, sorry. I said yes to him two days ago. And I'm not the only one going with a date, Sam's going with her boyfriend and both Anna and Julie might be going with dates, too. And the whole dance is chaperones," I added for his benefit.

"That really doesn't make me feel much better. Wait, two days ago? Were you planning on telling me at all?" he asked.

"Well… I was going to have Ziva break the news to you. But you were going to find out," I said.

"Oh, really? Before or after prom?" he asked, his eyes narrowing slightly, like Abby's did when she was angry.

"Um, I really don't have a definite answer to that particular question…" I trailed off. "How mad are you?" I dared to ask.

"Less mad than I thought I'd be. How well do you know Nate? Is he good enough for you?" he asked.

"Well I met him about two weeks after I started school here. We're in the same grade and I have a few classes with him. And, get this, his dad was a Marine and his older brother is in the Navy," I told Tony.

He thought about that for a minute. I knew that he had to approve, but I also knew he wouldn't say so. He just nodded his head and then changed the subject. "You hungry for dinner?"

O.o.O

**A/N: So, what did you think? Review worthy? I really do want to know what you thought about this chapter/this fic in general. Is it worth coming back to after months at a time of nothing? I really hope so! I, personally and non-biased-ly, love this fic more and more every chapter. Haha and, like I said up top, I have some big ideas for where I want to take this. Let me know! Thanks guys!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hey guys! So, what did I tell you? Here's a new chapter for you! I really hope you guys like it! It's really late where I am, so this is going to be really short cause I'm really tired and have school in the morning. First period chemistry is not something I can sleep through. Please read and review! Any comments/suggestions/anything are appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it or anything recognizable in this fic. I do, however, own Alessandra Daniela DiNozzo. She's all mine. Also, I don't own Never Stop by SafetySuit, I am just totally in love with the song. Seriously, go listen to it.**

O.o.O

"Sam, you need to calm down," I told her as she bounced around in the driver's seat, hands drumming on the steering wheel along with the music.

We were on our way to my place where Ziva and Abby were going to help us with our hair and make-up for prom tonight. After, Anna, Julie, and all of our dates were coming for pictures. I'd never really done anything like this before, but it sounded like fun. Sam, Julie, and Anna were all crazy during school today, as was the rest of the junior class.

Sam pulled up in front of my building and snagged a parking spot. Stopping the car, she told me, "I don't need to calm down. What I think is that _you_ need to get a bit more excited!"

"I think you are excited enough for the both of us," I informed her.

She just laughed and grabbed her dress from its hanging place in the backseat. We headed into the building and up to my floor. When we got into my apartment, we were assaulted by one of Abby's huge hugs. Sam had met Abby a few times, so this didn't faze her.

"Where have you two been? Didn't you say everyone would be getting here at six thirty? It's almost six!" she exclaimed, excited about my prom as though it was hers.

"Traffic was terrible," Sam explained.

"Okay, well, go get changed. Ziva's finishing getting everything set up in the kitchen," she told us and shooed us down the hall.

I told Sam she could change in my room and I took Tony and Ziva's. I saw it as that because Ziva was here more than she was at her own apartment these days. I didn't mind, it was nice to have another female around here. Tony had lived here alone for too long and it showed. Ziva and I had spent weeks here scrubbing the place down.

Once Sam and I had our dresses on, we went out into the kitchen where Ziva and Abby were waiting.

"You two look beautiful," Ziva told us, giving me a hug. Tony had a new joke that she has 'a soft heart after all', though I don't get it. She's been nothing but nice since I met her. I figure Tony is implying something that happened before I came here and I don't really ask about it.

"Thanks," I said to her. "Okay, so what are we doing?"

"Here's what I was thinking. Sam, how about a half up, half down sort of thing?" Abby asked her and Sam nodded her agreement. "Great! Okay, Alyx, for you, I was thinking a French braid?"

"That works for me," I said. I liked keeping my hair out of my face.

"Awesome! Okay, I'll do Sam's hair and Ziva, you do Alyx's. For make-up, we were thinking eye shadow with just a hint of glitter in it and whatever else you two wanted to do," Abby said.

"Sounds good," I said.

"Works for me," Sam agreed.

"Okay then, let's get started. Clock's ticking, people!"

O.o.O

We just finished with everything as the buzzer sounded throughout the apartment, signaling there were people downstairs. I buzzed them in and waited for them by the door. It was Anna and her date, Jacob. I had English with him, but I didn't really know him that well. As soon as they walked in, James, Julie, and Julie's date, Ricky, buzzed us and I let them in.

Finally the last buzz of the night came: Nate. When I let him in, he stopped and stared at me for a second. He had rented a tux, as had James, and his tie and vest matched the color of my dress. He looked great.

"You look beautiful," he told me.

"You look pretty handsome yourself," I said.

When I turned back around to lead Nate into the apartment, I saw Ziva and Abby watching me like hawks. They'd probably been instructed to by Tony, who had been kicked out for the evening because, after we all left, Abby and Ziva were having a girl's night, and I was invited t join when I got back at eleven.

All of the girls, and myself, had brought cameras, so we did group shots, just girls, just guys, singles, and couples. It all took about half an hour, but it was much more fun than I thought it would be. I also had Sam take a picture of Abby, Ziva, and me and promised the adults copies.

O.o.O

Sam, James, Nate, and I all drove to prom in Sam's car while Anna, Julie, Jacob, and Ricky took Anna's car, since we wouldn't all fit in one. When we got there, about half of our class was there already with more people arriving by the minute. Prom was being held in a hotel not too far from my place, which was why we'd chosen to do pictures there. The DJ already had the music going, but nobody was dancing yet.

The eight of us got a table together, as we'd reserved it a week and a half ago. Anna, Julie, and their dates all decided to go sit down together, but Sam, Nate, James, and I got drinks and stood near a wall and talked for a little while. We complained about classes, teachers, homework, and the upcoming prospect of college, only fifteen months away now. Though Sam didn't like to talk about it, she didn't really have to worry about paying for college because her family was kind of rich; they worked for somebody with a lot of power and money. I didn't know how I would pay for school, but I knew Tony would help me figure everything out.

When everyone arrived by seven thirty, the night kicked into full swing. To start, we had a sit-down dinner and then the DJ turned the music way up and everybody slowly got up to dance.

Nate and James dragged Sam and me out to the dance floor and, while our dancing wouldn't get us on Dancing With The Stars, it was still fun.

I left the floor for a minute to get a drink and, when I brought it back to our table in prospect of sitting down for a few minutes, a slow song began to play. As I listened to the beginning, I figured it wasn't really slow, but it just wasn't fast.

Nate walked over to the edge of the dance floor and waved me over to him. I put my drink down and walked over.

"I think that, as my date, you owe me a slow dance. And, as this is by one of my favorite bands, I think it should be this one," he said with a big smile on his face. He held out his hand to me, letting me decide whether to dance with him. He wasn't being demanding, he was being sweet.

I laughed, but took his hand. We made it out to the dance floor and mimicked the other couples as the chorus began.

_I will never stop trying_

_I will never stop watching as you leave_

_I will never stop losing my breath_

_Every time I see you looking back at me_

_And I will never stop holding your hand_

_I will never stop opening your door_

_I will never stop choosing you, babe_

_I will never get used to you_

With his arms around my waist and mine around his neck, it seemed like the perfect moment.

_And with this love song to you_

_It's not a momentary phase_

_You are my life, I don't deserve you_

_But you love me just the same_

_And as the mirror says we're older,_

_I will not look the other way_

_You are my life, my love, my only_

_And that's the one thing that won't change_

As the chorus started again, I looked at Nate, really looked at him. he was tall, with slightly shaggy brown hair and stunning hazel eyes. He had a widow's peak that only slightly broke into his large brow. He had high cheek bones that accentuated his smile. Nate was one of the nicest guys I knew and the only one to ask me to prom. And, yes, he was in America. I was in America. Did it get any simpler than that?

As the song ended, Nate did something I never thought he'd do: he kissed me. I wasn't expecting it, but I didn't push him away. It felt good, it felt right. When he broke away, I wanted more.

He smiled and took my hand. "I've wanted to do that all night. I've been restraining myself," he told me. "God, that sounds so cliché."

"It may be cliché, but it was nice. I'm sorry you had to wait so long," I told him, smiling.

"You don't think it was too… sudden?" he asked.

"I think you need to stop worrying. If I had wanted to stop you, I would have," I told him.

Nate breathed out a sigh of relief. When his eyes finally left mine, he said, "Hey, Sam."

I didn't have time to say anything before she pulled me away from Nate and a confused-looking James.

"Did you or did you not just kiss Nate Burton?" she demanded when we were out of earshot.

I blushed. "I, um, did," I told her.

"OH MY GOD! That is so awesome! I knew you two like each other!" she exclaimed.

"Sam! Calm down! Please don't make this a big deal-"

She cut me off. "Alyx! This is a big deal. I'm so happy for you guys!" she hugged me. "Come on, let's get back out there."

O.o.O

After a few more hours of dancing and having fun, prom ended. I was so tired as we walked out of there, I leaned heavily on Nate, who was holding at least half of my weight by the time we found Sam's car. The two of us took the backseat for the short ride to my house so that everyone could get their cars.

Sam dropped us off and drove off with two short honks. James unlocked his car and shouted his goodbye to us. Nate walked me to my door and then lightly kissed me goodnight. We hugged for a moment afterwards and he said that we'd talk tomorrow. I agreed and he waited for me to get inside before leaving.

When I got back to my apartment, Abby noticed something in my facial expression that made her freak out. "Oh my God! How was it?" she asked.

"It was really fun," I told them.

Ziva paused the movie and appraised me. "You look flushed," she told me.

"It's a little cold outside," I said, hoping that would get me past their scrutiny.

It didn't work. "OH MY GOD! You kissed Nate!" Abby exclaimed.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked.

Ziva and Abby looked at each other and then back at me. "Yes," they both answered at the same time.

"Tony's gonna kill him," I said.

"I will talk to him. Between Abby and I, we have a lot over him. But I think that Nate should come over for dinner, so we can meet him. And I promise, Tony will be on his best behavior," Ziva compromised.

I walked over and hugged her. "Thank you, Ziva," I told her. She and Tony had taken really good care of me, the best since mom died. I still missed her and knew this summer was going to be a little tough, especially the memorial service at the end of the summer, but I knew that, when I came back to DC, I was coming home to people who loved me.

O.o.O

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think! I know, it was a fast update. I got inspired tonight. The song I used in this is called Never Stop by SafetySuit and I absolutely love it and you should go listen to it RIGHT NOW because it is that awesome.**

**Okay, it's 11:30pm and I am so tired, so I'm sorry for any typos. Please review! Thanks!**


	19. Chapter 19

Hey guys! It's really me! I'm somewhat back. You wouldn't believe the year I've just had even if I told you. I can't actually believe it's been almost a year since I last updated this. I'm stunned. My jaw literally dropped when I saw the date. I feel so bad guys! But never fear! I'm still writing for this fic! I haven't forgotten about it or you guys, I swear!

I have a notebook that is solely dedicated to my writing and it has at least 5 chapters in it, some completed, some just stared. And I keep telling myself that I'm going to update soon, but I've been so busy and I'm very sorry. Keep an eye out and I'll have one up before the month is over. I'm sorry that I can't give you a date other than that, but that's probably how long it's going to take me to fix and type it.

Also, I'm sorry for misleading any of you thinking that I've put a new chapter up tonight. I kind of hate when authors do chapters like this apologizing to readers like this, and I wish I had more for you at the current time, but sadly I don't.

If anybody has any comments/suggestions for what they'd like to see or anything, PM me or review with it. I really do love feedback and this isn't being beta-ed, so I have nobody to tell me if my writing is crap or not.

Remember: keep an eye out for the next chapter! Thanks guys!


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Hi guys! Long time no chapter! I know, I know… I'm a bad author… I'm trying to be better. And I shall start… NOW! Okay so here's the real chapter 19, which will be put in the chapter 20 spot because I'm not taking down my apology letter, which I really do feel bad about abandoning y'all for a year (yes, I know I used 'y'all' and no, I'm not from the south. I'm from Boston…) and I'm going to spend these next few months trying to make up for it. **

**I don't have a foreseeable end to this fic, so, for the time being, it will just be continuing. I hate endings. And change. **

**Disclaimer: No, sadly I do not own NCIS or Tony and Ziva would have been together YEARS AGO. COME ON WRITERS, YOU HAVE ONE JOB! But I will just sit here and pretend otherwise. Enjoy guys!**

O.o.O

When I woke up in the morning, I heard music coming from the living room. I looked at the clock, which told me that it was only eight. That meant I had only gotten seven and a half hours of sleep last night, as I had stayed up late texting Sam. She messaged me the second she got home and demanded details. I didn't have a lot to tell her, as she had been there the whole time and I had been with her for most of it, but I indulged her anyway.

Nate had been really sweet last night, getting us drinks and dancing and smiling the whole time. Between our first kiss after his favorite song and the last kiss at my door, we'd only kissed three other times, none of which Sam knew about before I told her at midnight. I knew she was happy for me.

When I left my room, I found Ziva in the living room, cleaning up dishes and other things from last night.

"Laila Tov. Did I wake you?" she asked. I knew that 'laila tov' meant 'good morning' in Hebrew as she had said it before.

"No," I told her, not wanting to make her feel bad. "Tony's still not home?"

"No, but he should be sooner or later. He is going to ask about last night," she said.

"Yeah… I know," I said.

"What are you going to tell him?" she asked.

"That I had a great time," I said.

"I meant about Nate," she said.

"Yeah… I was just planning to leave Nate out of it," I said.

"He is going to ask about him and you and I both know it," Ziva said.

"What do I say? Oh, and by the way, Nate kissed me. What's for lunch?" I asked.

She laughed. "Did he ask you out?" she asked, curious.

"Would you tell Tony if he had?" I asked.

"No, I would let you tell him," she said. "Did he?"

"No," I said.

"Are you disappointed?"

"I really don't know," I told her.

"Is there someone else?" she asked like she had read my mind.

"Maybe?" I said, tipping up at the end without meaning to.

"Does he go to your school?" she asked, trying to pry it out of me because I wasn't offering up any information.

"He used to," I said.

"Is he in Italy?" she guessed.

"Damn, you're good," I sighed. "His name is Nicolo and we've been friends since we were little," I explained.

"And you are not sure how you feel about him because you have not seen him in so long," she said, nodding, understanding.

"Yes! And now I don't know what to do about Nate. If he asks me out, and I go to Italy, what if I like Nico? What if he doesn't ask me out and Nicolo does? What do I do, Ziva?" I asked.

"I think you should just go with the tide. If Nate asks you out, then that's great. If he doesn't, that's alright too. If Nicolo does, then if it's meant to be, you can work it out. As the saying goes in Spanish, que será será. Whatever will be, will be," she told me.

O.o.O

A little while later, I got a text from Nate. **Wanna go out to lunch?** The text asked.

**Okay.** I texted back.

"Hey, Ziva?" I asked. She and I were watching TV on the couch.

"Yes?" she asked, not looking at me.

"Can I go out to lunch with Nate?" I asked her. That made her head turn.

"He asked you out to lunch?" she asked, a smile growing on her face.

I blushed. "Yes," I said.

"Of course you can go. I will cover for you with Tony. He should be home soon," she told me.

"Ziva, you are the best!" I said and hugged her.

"No problem. Where is he taking you?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask," I said and then texted him **When and where?**

The reply came in a few seconds: **Just let me in.**

I was confused, but went to open the door anyway. And there he was standing there and smiling.

"What if I had said no?" I asked, smiling and letting him in.

"Well that would have sucked," he answered.

"Okay then. I just need to change and then we can go. I'll be ready in a few minutes," I told him.

"Sounds good," he said.

I walked back into the living room with Nate behind me. "Ziva, look who's here," I said to her.

She didn't bat an eye. "Hello, Nate," she said.

"Hi," he said back. "I'm sorry; I don't remember your name."

"Ziva. I'm Alyx's brother's girlfriend," she explained.

"I'm going to go get dressed. I'll be back in a few minutes," I told them both and then went down the hall to my room.

Once I closed the door, I ripped through my drawers in the dresser trying to find something to wear. I settled on jeans, a semi-nice purple button-up top, and a blue windbreaker because it wasn't warm enough to go without. I brushed my hair and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I figured I look alright, grabbed my wallet, keys, and phone, and went back out to the living room.

We said goodbye to Ziva and then went out to Nate's car. It was small and silver, but it suited him. he gallantly opened the passenger door for me before walking around the front of the car and getting in the driver's side.

"I like your car," I told him, admiring the cross hanging from the rear view mirror between us.

"It's my brother's, actually," he said as we pulled out into traffic.

"It's nice of him to let you borrow it. Tony almost never lets me use his car," I said.

"Well, he doesn't have much use for it on a ship in the Indian Ocean," he said, looking over at me quickly and smiling.

"He is in the Navy?" I asked. I didn't know much about Nate's family as he didn't really talk about them.

"Yep, enlisted at eighteen. He's almost twenty now, his birthday is in two months," he told me.

"Wow, you must miss him," I said.

"Yeah, he's a great brother. He taught me everything that my father didn't, like cars and basketball."

"When will he be home?" I asked, hoping it was going to be soon.

"That's kind of why I asked you to come to lunch with me," he said. At my confused look, he continued. "He got home late last night, like at three am. Do you want to meet my family?" he asked.

"I think I am a little underdressed," I told him as we pulled up to a house and parked behind a blue pickup truck.

He got out of the car and walked around to my side to open the door. "You look perfect," he promised. He took my hand and led me into the house. "Hey, everyone. This is Alyx," he said.

Four pairs of eyes looked me up and down as we walked in. Nate's father was young-looking and fit, even though he was in his mid-forties at least. Nate resembled him more than he did his mother who was very thin with blonde hair and was maybe a few inches over five feet tall. Had his younger sister been born a few years earlier, she and Nate would have been twins. His brother resembled his mother more, but while the features on her made her look more feminine, they made his brother look more masculine. Had I not known he was in the military, I would have guessed that he was. He had that look about him.

Nate's mother came up to me first, a large smile on her pretty face. "Hi, my name's Andrea. Nate's told us a bit about you. Welcome," she said, shaking my free right hand while Nate still held onto my left. I smiled back and said hello.

His father was next. "Nice to meet you. I'm James Burton." His handshake was strong and firm like Gibbs' was.

Nate's brother stayed seated as he said hello because there was a younger girl on his lap, maybe eleven or twelve and who was not moving. "I'm Gabe and this is Danielle, our little sister," he said from the couch. Danielle was slight, but tall for her age. I figured it must be hard on her to have her oldest brother gone so much; I knew I wouldn't like it very much.

A sound came from the kitchen that sounded like the oven timer. "Lunch is ready," Nate's mom announced as she moved towards the next room. "Everybody sit down at the table." Nate's father turned off the TV and everyone moved into the dining room.

We all walked into the dining room and everyone migrated to their seats like they always sat there. Nate pulled me along with him and held out a chair and motioned for me to sit in it. His sister plopped down on my left, Nate's father on the other side of Nate at one end of the table, Gabe across from Nate and Nate's mom on the other side of Danielle at the other end of the table. Just as everyone started serving themselves from the massive plates of food Nate's mom had cooked, there was a rustling at the door and a female voice called out, "Hello?"

"We're in the dining room, Mia," Andrea called to the voice.

A girl tall girl with blonde hair walked around the corner from the living room and screamed when she saw Gabe, who had stood up and walked around the table to where he was just out of sight from the living room. She ran over to him and buried her face in his neck, hugging him tightly. He was hugging her back just as hard. I figured that Mia was Gabe's girlfriend. When Mia stopped crying a few minutes later, the two of them sat down next to each other across the table from me.

Mia briefly took her eyes off Gabe and, when she noticed me, she looked away and then did a double take. "Hi, sorry, I don't know who you are. I'm Mia, Gabe's girlfriend," she said and extended her arm over the table to shake my hand.

"I'm Alyx, Nate's friend from school," I said, shaking over the mashed potatoes.

"Nice to meet you," she told me.

All through lunch everyone was talking. Gabe told a lot of stories from his time at sea and his family filled him in on things he'd missed while he was gone. I mostly stayed quiet because this was a family thing, but it was nice to just listen and watch. It wasn't awkward to sit there with them and, even though I didn't do much talking, it was nice to just be around people who obviously loved each other so much. It was like being at NCIS with the team, who all got along like a mismatched family. Ducky acted as the grandfather, Gibbs as the father, and Tony, Ziva, Tim, and Abby as the children. Tony obviously saw himself as the eldest child and, when Gibbs wasn't around, would make himself seem important and would look down on the others. Not in a bad way, unless you were Tim, who was always the butt of Tony's jokes.

This family was the same as my NCIS family. Mia fit in with everybody as flawlessly as if she'd been born into the Burton family. Occasionally they would ask me a question, to keep me a part of the exchange, but I knew this was Gabe's day, so I made my answers short and tried to direct the conversation back to him. I didn't mind this and I genuinely wanted to know more about him and everyone at this table. I laughed at Gabe's stories and smiled when Nate would glance at me ever so often and smile.

O.o.O

When lunch was over, Nate took me on a tour of their house. It was a modest four bedroom and all of the Burton children decorated their rooms quite differently. Danielle had books stacked up everywhere, bookshelves overrun and piling up on the floor. She had a few posters on her light purple walls. Besides the books everywhere, her room was very neat. Nate explained that their parents loved keeping a clean house. Gabe's room was the obvious place to go if you wanted music. He had more stacks of CDs than Danielle had books. His tastes ran from rock to pop and, surprisingly, I saw a few country albums in the midst. He had posters of concerts that Nate told me that Gabe had gone to and there were even some signed band t-shirts framed and hung on the walls.

Nate's room was very much a mix of his sibling's rooms. He had a small bookshelf full of books with a CD shelf next to it. The main things in Nate's room were sports trophies, sports memorabilia, and movies. I laughed a little bit, recognizing right away some movies that he and Tony had in common. With an avid movie freak for a brother, in the year and a half that I'd been living with him, he'd introduced me to some of his favorites. It was something we easily bonded over, though his love of movies far outweighed my own.

As I looked around the room, Nate sat on his neatly made bed and watched me take it in. "What do you think?" he asked.

"I think, once my brother gets over the fact that I'm friends with you, you two will have a lot in common. He loves movies," I said.

"Why would he care if we're friends?" he asked, looking confused.

"He's a bit… Over-protective," I told him.

Nate smiled. "I think we can work past that."

"I don't know, I don't think you have enough faith in him. He's been known to hold grudges," I teased. He made a face at me and I made one back at him as I sat down in his desk chair which was at the foot of his bed. "I'm really glad I got to meet your family. I like them," I told him.

"Yeah, I'm a bit partial to them myself. It'll be nice to have Gabe back for a little while. My mom loves it when we have the whole family together. He said he might be home until mid-July or August."

"It's a shame I'll be missing that. I leave in a couple of weeks. Right after school gets out," I said.

"And you'll be gone all summer?" he asked, looking a little put-down by this news.

"Yeah, I get back a week before school starts again," I answered. "But we'll keep in touch."

"Will you have internet when you're over there? We can email and keep in touch if you do."

I laughed. "I don't know what my friends brothers would do if they didn't have internet access. All they do is play video games," I told him. "I will be online. Trust me."

Nate stood up. "Well, we should get back out there. I'm glad that you like them. I know they like you too," he assured me.

I smiled and he led me down the hall back to the living room where we could hear talking and laughing.

O.o.O

**A/N: Okay, please don't hate me! I know I said that I would have this up in January, but then it got crazy and then, the next thing I knew, it was February. So sorry, guys. But I tried to make up for it with a long chapter. Please tell me what you think. I do have another chapter in the works; I just need to find the notebook that it's in…**

**Please keep an eye out for the next chapter, which I'm hoping I can get out soon. Most likely this month. Thanks for reading and sticking with me through all of this! I'm trying to be a better author.**


End file.
